Snowbarry- Season 1
by Write-To-You
Summary: This is simply following the storyline of Season 1, but making Caitlin and Barry the cannon couple. I'm making Ronnie Caitlin's brother, Lynda... just never happened, and Felicity never kissed him. Oh, and Iris and Barry are the best of FRIENDS. (Rated T because I'm paranoid) NOW COMPLETE!
1. 1x01

**Author's Note: Hey, folks! Here we are at the beginning of a brand new SNOWBARRY story. Just to warn you, updates will not be regular and there will probably be big gaps in between. Because of that, I'm going to tell you in advance that there won't be much drama between Caitlin and Barry. Once they're together (probably episode 3...) they won't break up. Because, really, what's the point of making a fanfiction where they can be together during the seasons, and then not making them together? It would practically just be the show!**

 **So, I hope you enjoy. 1x01, everyone.**

Prologue:

It was weird to think that she had watched him sleeping for 9 months. She knew that Cisco would make some Captain America related reference to that, one of Colsen's lines, she was pretty sure, but it was true. She had stood by his bedside, held his hand, heck, she had stroked his hair to calm him down one evening she was watching him. And now, she was actually having her first conversation with him.

And she had told him to pee in a cup. Who _does_ that? That's just not something that people say. Then she had gone into full doctor mode and started prodding his chest muscles. That had been weird. Yes, she had technically know him for 9 months, but he had just met her.

He talked with Wells, got the run down on his condition, and the entire time Caitlin was silent. She didn't add anything medical, for once in her life, because this was probably the strangest thing that had ever happened to her. A project that she had spent nine months of her life on, a project that had _been_ her life for nine months, was now not just a project.

He was a person.

And he was actually pretty cute.

* * *

Caitlin punched a few buttons on Barry's chest tech, aligning them with her tablet. She looked up to see him staring at her. "What?"

He looked a little embarrassed. "Nothing. I just noticed you don't smile too much."

Inside she was grimacing. Of course, the first impression he got of her was the grim side. She brushed her hair behind her ear, and found herself opening up to him. "My once promising career in bio-engineering is over. My boss is in a wheelchair for life. And the explosion that put you in a coma also killed my older brother. So this blank expression kind of feels like the way to go." She blinked rapidly and turned away, striding quickly back over to Dr. Wells.

But once Barry was running, she forgot all of that. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. She peered at him through her binoculars, murmuring, "That's not possible." But it was. And she, Dr. Caitlin Snow, was seeing it first-hand.

But then Barry crashed into the pile of cones. Her heart leapt into her throat. Running into something like that at his speed... who knows how hurt he could be. Wouldn't that just be perfect; she finally gets to meet her comatose patient after 9 months in a coma, and he goes and... what? Dies? Get's put back in a coma?

Cisco hopped into their van and sped down the empty runway. When he returned, Barry was groaning and clutching his wrist but seemed fine enough.

Caitlin, Cisco and Harry brought him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and Caitlin did a quick x-ray. She was amazed at what she saw. The bones, which had definitely had a distal radius fracture when she had taken the x-ray in the van, were now completely healed. She explained this to Barry, adding, "It's healed. In 3 hours."

He looked up at her, alarmed and looking for answers. "How is that even possible?"

"We don't know. But can I run some tests now?"

As she was over by her desk, she overheard Barry talking with Dr. Wells. "When I was 11 my mother was murdered." Caitlin looked up, shocked. Barry continued with the story of the blurs of light, how he had ended up blocks away... and how no one had believed him. She felt a sudden rush of pity towards this young man, and when he looked her way, she gave him the smallest of smiles. It was the tingling feeling she got when he smiled back that surprised her.

* * *

"Meta-humans?"

"That's what we're calling them." Caitlin confirmed.

"I saw one today." Barry stated. Caitlin and Cisco exchanged looks of astonishment. "He's a bank robber, and he can control the weather."

"This just keeps getting cooler..." Cisco said, his voice laced with excitement.

Barry, on the other hand, seemed very upset. "This is not cool." He yelled. "Alright, a man _died_." The smile drained off of Cisco's face.

Barry looked at Caitlin, but her eyes fell to her desk. He turned after a long silent pause and strode out of the room.

She didn't see Barry for awhile. When he came back to S.T.A.R. Labs, rushing in in a startling flurry of papers, he had with him many boxes of files and papers. "I've been going over unsolved cases from the past 9 months. There's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people." He glanced up at Cisco, but his gaze was staring fixedly down at the papers on the table in front of him. "Your meta-humans have been busy."

Cisco exchanged another one of his significant glances with Caitlin, but she looked away. _Deaths_. This wasn't some cool game of, "See how fast Barry can run!" The particle accelerator that _she_ had helped create had made these things.

Barry seemed to be reading her mind. "Now, I'm not blaming you; I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen." Now his sentence seemed directed wholly on her. "I know you all lost something." She looked down again, her mind filled with images of Ronnie, her older brother. "But I need your help to catch Mardin and anyone else out there like him."

He once again glanced at Caitlin. "I can't do it without you."

Caitlin glanced at Cisco, and he looked right back at her. He started to smile. "If we're gonna do this... I have something that might help."

Cisco proudly revealed his suit to Barry. "This is something I've been playing with. Designed to replace the turnouts that firefighters usually wear. I thought that S.T.A.R. Labs if could do something nice for the community maybe people wouldn't be so angry at Dr. Wells anymore."

Barry walked forward to better inspect the suit. "How's it going to help me?"

"It's made of a re-enforced trypolimer. It should withstand your moving at high speeds. And the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. And it has built in sensors so we can track your vitals and remain in touch with you from here."

Barry looked the suit over. "Now how do we find Mardin?"

Caitlin stepped forward, clicking away on her tablet. She didn't show it, but inside she was jumping up and down with excitement that Barry had liked the suit. She knew how disappointed Cisco would have been if he hadn't. "I re-tasked S.T.A.R. Labs satellites to track meteorological abnormalities around Central City." Barry and Cisco came to look over her shoulder.

"We just got a ping." She told them. "Atmospheric pressure increased by 20 millibars in a mater of seconds." Caitlin shook her head in amazement, still awed about how different this all was from a normal scientist's life. "I tracked it to a farm just west of the city."

She registered Barry walked slowly towards the suit and glanced up. The next second and he and the suit were gone in a flicker of yellow lightning bolts.

* * *

While Barry fought Mardin she was quiet, watching his vitals as the preformed in the strangest way. She was fairly certain that they were normal... at least for him. But they were still nothing like she had ever seen before.

Mardin created a twister with his weather powers, and Barry stood watching it, trying to think of a plan. Suddenly, he yelled into his comm. "I'm going to unravel it!"

"How the heck are you going to do that?" Caitlin asked.

"I'll run around it in the opposite direction to counter it's speed!"

Cisco leaned over and spoke to Caitlin, worry evident on his face. "He'd have to run 700 miles per hour."

As Caitlin turned back over to the comm, she found her heart was pounding. "You're body might not be able to handle those speeds. You'll die."

"I have to try!"

Those four words would be the death of her, Caitlin thought as she perched on the edge of her chair, waiting for the fight to be over.

Finally, after she thought he would either explode or just drop dead from the strain the high speeds were putting on his body, Barry unraveled the twister. Caitlin sat back in her chair, and, for the first time in 9 months, a slow smile spread across her face.

 **Author's Note: So... what did everyone think of that? Any ideas or special request for what episodes certain things happen? I still haven't figured out when they're going to kiss yet... I might not take your idea, but, then again, I might :)Tell me what you think!**


	2. 1x02

**Author's Note: I am back, and sooner then I expected! Everyone ready for some SNOWBARRY! (I really do put it in Caps Locks every time I write it, don't I?)**

He was going to ask her. He was going to do it. Then why hadn't he yet? She was just Caitlin. _Exactly._ A voice in his head said. _That's why it's so hard_. But she was Caitlin! The worst she could say was no. As he thought this Cisco's voice filtered through the comm. "You there yet?"

As he zoomed into the flaming building, he thought he heard a female voice. But no, Caitlin was at Jitters getting coffee.

That thought re-assured him (he wasn't prepared to talk to Caitlin yet) and he yelled into the mic. "Cisco, there's fire everywhere!" No response. "Cisco are you still there?" There was still no response, and at that moment a little girl stumbled into the hallway, crying for her mom.

He scooped her up and ran out of the building, doing the same thing to three more people. Then Barry sped off. "It's good now. Everybody's out."

"Barry, it's Caitlin." _Oh no oh no oh no oh no._

"Hey, Caitlin..." He was by no means ready to talk to her yet. "How's your day?" He winced even as he said it.

"Get back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Now." She ordered.

"On my way." Barry responded with a resigned sigh. As he started to speed off, he was overcome by a consuming dizziness. He stumbled, leaning on a dumpster, then shook his head. It was probably from the smoke.

He kind of wished he hadn't gone back to S.T.A.R. Labs as soon as he arrived. "Who do you think you are?" Caitlin snapped at Barry, as he followed the two of them down from the Cortex room.

"Well, I'm the eyes and ears and he's the feet." Cisco answered for him.

"This isn't funny. You could have gotten yourself killed." That pulled Barry up short. She was worried about him? A little tingle of something started in the pit of his stomach and spread over the rest of his body. "You can't be running around the city like some super-sonic fireman."

"Why not." Barry argued. "This is what we talked about. Using my speed to do good."

"We talked about you helping us contain other people that might have been affected by the particle accelerator explosion. Meta-humans." She was staring at him so hard now that he had to look away. He had never realized how pretty her eyes were. "And, aside from Clyde Mardin, we haven't found any."

"People in this city still need help." Barry told her. She sighed heavily. "And I can help them!"

"We can help them." Cisco corrected.

"Will you please say something?" Caitlin pleaded. Barry was confused for a moment, then he turned around and saw Wells. Great. Another lecturer.

* * *

The "Don't expect me to patch you up every time you break something" had hurt, but that wasn't going to stop Barry from going along with his plan. Unfortunately, before he got the chance to ask her his most important question, his phone buzzed. "My day job beckons." He grumbled, and zipped out of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Later that afternoon, he called Caitlin. "Caitlin, hi."

"Do you need something, Barry?" She asked.

He bit his lip, stuttered for a moment, then finally blurted. "Do-you-want-to-come-with-me-to-Simon-Staggs-presentation-that's-in-15-minutes?"

She was silent, and, though the logical side of his brain knew she was trying to figure out what the heck he had just said, the illogical side was thinking, _Oh no oh no she doesn't want to come with me what am I going to_ do _!_

"15 minutes is a little short notice..." Caitlin said after a moment. "But, sure, I'd like to."

He was floored for a moment. "Wait, really? Oh, great, cool, yes, I will come and pick you up."

"Wait!" She exclaimed before he could hang up. "Is this, um... this could be totally wrong but are you asking me on a date?"

"Uh..." Barry rubbed the back of his neck nervously, even though she couldn't see him. "Yeah. If that, uh, ok."

"That sounds great." She responded happily, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll see you in 10."

10 minutes later (well, 11, but who was counting), Barry was outside her door. He realized as he had hung up that he didn't even know where Caitlin _lived_ , and had had to call Cisco to find out.

Barry rang the doorbell, and almost immediately the door opened. There was Caitlin in a pretty blue dress, her hair braided. "Hey, Barry." She smiled.

"Hi, Caitlin. You look really nice."

She blushed. "You do too." They stood there for a moment in silence. "We should probably go."

"Right! Yeah."

The speech was interesting, though talking with Caitlin about Simon Stagg's work was even more so. That was until a few shots rang out.

A few people screamed and everyone dropped to the ground. "Go, Barry, _go_!" Caitlin hissed in his ear.

"There's too many people watching, I can't!" He whispered back desperately.

The man yelled for silence. "Look at you, wearing your finest jewelry, almost as though you knew we were coming to rob you! Now everyone line up!"

Perfect. As people started dropping their valuables in a bag, Barry began to move. But Caitlin grabbed his arm. "Wait, Barry, there are still people watching."

But then the cop came in, clutching a gun. All of the masked men turned in unison, raising their weapons. 4 shots rang out at the same moment, and Barry was on the move.

He chased the men outside, but before he could stop them, the world was spinning and finally turning black.

* * *

When he woke up, Caitlin was standing over him and his cheek was stinging. "Did you... slap me?"

"Yes, I did." Caitlin said, her eyes blazing. "Why didn't you tell me about all of this? Barry, you passed out. I came out here, and... and I thought you were _dead_!" her voice rose dramatically in pitch and her fists clenched.

Barry was surprised. "I- I'm fine, Caitlin..."

"No, you're not." She grasped his upper arm and yanked him to his feet. "We are going back to S.T.A.R. Labs to run some tests _now_."

"How could you not tell us you're experiencing dizzy spells?" Caitlin lectured as she paced around the medical bed. "We're your _doctors_. Who knows what's going on inside your body right now. Your cells are in a constant state of flux." She was speaking so quickly that her sentences were almost interrupting themselves. "You could be experiencing cardio-pulmonary failure or a transient attack!" She stopped in front of him, eyes blazing.

He wouldn't meet her gaze. When he had asked Caitlin on a date, this was _not_ how he expected it to end. She wasn't done. "You of all people should know that in science, we _share_. We do _not_ keep secrets."

With that she turned and stormed off. Barry slouched miserably on his bed as Cisco made to go after her, saying, "Wow, I haven't seen anyone make that angry since Ronnie."

Barry stayed on his bed for a while longer, Caitlin's words running around and around his head. Why had this afternoon had to go like this?

Caitlin had cooled down some after a few hours of him leaving her alone, and now they were running tests. Barry was trying out Cisco's custom-made treadmill, designed to go super fast and not explode. Harrison called into the mic that broadcasted his voice in Barry's closed off room. "We think that we know why you keep-"

Barry didn't hear the rest, because at that moment, he blacked out. When he woke up and sat up, both Cisco and Caitlin were there to support him. "I passed out again?"

"Total metabolic failure, brought on my acute hypo-glycemia (A:N: Enough big words, Caitlin!)" Caitlin informed him as she grasped his upper arm and placed a hand on his back. He shivered as he felt an electric tingle that had nothing to do with his speed spread up and down his body.

She let go as soon as he was on his feet, and he found himself disappointed. But he had registered her words enough to say, "I'm not eating enough?" He glanced at Cisco. "So if I eat something I'll be good to go?"

Cisco got a slightly demonic look on his face. "Heh. Man, you have to eat at least 10,000 calories every time you run."

Caitlin took over. "We're going to have to fashion you a new diet based on your metabolic changes." She strode off to her tablet, leaving Cisco to tell him how many tacos he would have to eat to build up that many calories.

With a smile, she watched her friend talk, but her eyes kept wandering over to Barry. Now that it was over, tests had been run, they had figured out the problem, she realized just how scared she had been.

She shook herself. She had met Barry Allen 2 weeks ago, and already he was having this affect on her. What was going on?

* * *

"Sorry." Caitlin murmured as she cleaned the cuts on Barry's face. He winced at the sting of the rubbing alcohol. "The abrasions are already rapidly healing." No matter how much sense it made, it was still strange to see injuries heal this fast. Not that she wanted to have Barry hurt at all, but this was science. That's what she did.

"I got my butt handed to me." Barry muttered.

"You got blood on my suit." Cisco complained from where he was standing with a spray bottle and rag, cleaning the Flash suit.

"Not helping, Cisco." Caitlin frowned at him. "Barry, you were practically fighting at least 10 attackers without any training. It's no wonder that they kicked you around a bit."

"A bit." Barry scoffed. "I don't see what the point is of me having my speed if I can't even stop metas."

"You're still leaning." Caitlin told him, wiping up the rest of the blood, and lingering with her fingers on his face a little longer then was necessary. Barry found himself leaning into her touch. She smiled. "You'll get there."

"Thanks, Caitlin." He gave a weak grin back, then stood.

Even so, there was nothing she could say to make him stay. He was done. Barry walked out of S.T.A.R. Labs feeling like nothing he could do would ever be enough. He couldn't take on the meta. He couldn't save his mom. When was he going to learn that trying didn't help?

But when Caitlin's number popped up on his cell, he picked it up anyway. "I told you, I'm done." Was the first thing he said.

"I know." Her voice was strained. "But you need to get to S.T.A.R. Labs _right now_."

Filled with a sense of dread, he muttered a quick excuse to Iris and flashed away (after getting out of her sight, of course). When he got to the lab, Danton Black was standing, motionless, in front of his friends.

"Barry, it's ok!" Caitlin was quick to tell him, brushing her hair out of her face from where it had blown from the wind he created.

"It's not ok!" Barry yelled, "Black is here and he's-" He stopped, centimeters from the dark haired man's face. "Just... standing there. That's not him, is it." Feeling rather ridiculous, he turned back to his friends.

Cisco and Caitlin were both smiling. "It's one of his replicates." Dr. Wells said from his wheelchair.

"How did you get it?"

"I grew him." A proud and slightly goofy smile crept across Caitlin's face. Barry realized that she had been smiling a lot more lately. The thought made him happy.

She showed him the screen of the lab's T.V. "I isolated a cell of Black's blood from your suit to see if I could trigger his multiplication process and learn how Black multiplies. So I exposed the cells to a protein gel and they began replicating."

Barry poked Black's chest, but glanced at her as she came to stand beside him. He waved a hand in front of the clone's face. "Why isn't he -it- doing anything?"

"The clones are an empty shell without Black." Caitlin continued, and when she passed in front of him he could smell the faintest hint of apples and cinnamon and something that was all Caitlin's own. "Shut down the real Black, and you might shut them all down."

Barry wasn't convinced, though her smile helped a bit. "How do we know which one is the real Danton Black?"

"That occurred to me given your own passing out. Black has limits, just like you. Controlling all of those clones must require a _tremendous_ amount of physical strength." Caitlin got more excited as she explained, gesticulating with her hands. "So look for the one with signs of weakness or fatigue. He's the original."

* * *

There were too many clones. Panting, Barry sped away a few yards. Caitlin spoke in his ear. "Remember, Barry. Find the prime."

"There's too many of them to fight." He croaked.

"Barry." Wells instructed. "You need to isolate the prime."

"I can't." Barry said desperately. "It's impossible."

Caitlin glanced up at Joe, who was leaning over the mic. "Nothing is impossible Barry, you taught me that. You can do this." Caitlin smiled. That was exactly what Barry need to hear from him.

"I believe in you Barry." She murmured.

Barry felt a new sense of purpose at both of their words. He spun around and ran back into the fray.

The battle didn't last long after that. "Barry. Barry are you alright?" Joe yelled in his ear.

"Fine." He panted. "I'm fine. It's done."

Everyone in S.T.A.R. Labs relaxed at those words. Caitlin sent a glance at Cisco, and broke into a relieved smile. Her legs felt like jelly and her heart was pounding, but she was happier then she had been in a long time.

But then Danton Black ran at him one more time, and Barry, even though he tried, was forced to drop him. Black fell and landed, dead, on the street.

* * *

Barry walked into S.T.A.R Labs and changed out of his suit, Caitlin hovering over him the whole time, trying to figure out if he was hurt in any way, shape or form. He waved her off, though, and she sat back down.

"When I was out there," Barry told them, "I realized something. We were all struck by that lightning." He met Caitlin's eyes, and she gave him a tiny smile.

"Well said Mr. Allen. Well said." Wells commented, before wheeling his chair away.

Cisco walked off to his lab, and Caitlin moved over to Barry. "You did a good job, Barry." She smiled.

"I didn't save Black." He felt the weight on his shoulder, the weight of every death he couldn't stop.

"Black did that to himself." Caitlin laid a hand on his arm. "There was nothing you could have done." She turned, and walked toward the door, but stopped. "And, when it's a good time, I was cheated out of that date, Mr. Allen. I would like a refund."

"How about another date, Dr. Snow?" Barry grinned. "Sunday night work for you?"

"Sounds perfect."

Perfect. That was a pretty good word right about now.

 **Author's Note: OMG THAT WAS SOOOOOO LONG! Did you guys like it? I definitely took some creative license, I hope that's ok.**

 **I'm going to have to take some creative license on the whole of season 2. With everything that happens with Jay and Patty and Iris, and Caitlin barely being in it, it will be much more exciting.**

 **I've decided when they are going to first kiss. Let me know you if you want to know, or if you want it to be a surprise.**

 **REVEIW! This took awhile.**


	3. 1x03

**Author's Note: Yo yo yo yo yo yo! What time is it? Snowbarry season 1 time! (This is why I wasn't the one to write Hamilton :)**

"It could be modified to act as a sort of makeshift prison." Harrison said thoughtfully.

"What could?" Barry asked, glancing first at Caitlin, then at Cisco.

"The Particle Accelerator." Harrison responded gravely.

Caitlin's face paled and she looked away from Harrison, staring resolutely at the floor as memories that always came with that word flooded through her. Barry watched in concern, not sure of the whole story but feeling pained at how miserable she looked.

Harrison had to say her name 3 times before she looked over. Barry was still giving her that searching look of his, but she ignored it. "Did you hear me? We're going down to the accelerator ring."

Barry saved her from responding. "Actually, Dr. Wells, I could use Caitlin's help identifying the poison gas." Caitlin gave him a look of mixed thanks, relief, and wonder, and he returned it with a small smile.

"Ok." Was all Harrison said, but Barry suspected that he figured out more than he let on.

"Is that ok with you?" Barry asked Caitlin quietly.

"Let's go." She said. He gently took her hand, and led her out.

* * *

"Welcome to the CCPD!" Barry said grandly as the two of them walked into the main room. He glanced at her inconspicuously, trying to figure out what she was feeling.

"So this is your day job?" He hummed the assentive. "Wow."

Barry felt like glowing with pride at her amazement, until a criminal came and muttered something to her that made her raise her eyebrow. "Delightful."

He winced, and one of the detectives took that opportunity to make things worse. "Hey lab rat. We need prints of this gun. Pronto." Barry nodded mutely, even as she walked off, feeling a slight embarrassment creeping red over his face.

"Allen!" The Captain strode towards him, and Caitlin looked up again in slight amusement. "Where the heck is the review for the Olaf Case?"

"Upstairs." Singh gave him an incredulous look. "It's- it's all finished... I can just run up and bring it down." He glanced at Caitlin, then ran towards the stairs.

"With you that could be three days from now; I'll go with you." He turned and followed Barry, Caitlin hot on his heels. The Captain, not having noticed her before, gave her the once over. "Who are you?"

"Dr. Caitlin Snow. Barry's personal physician." There was a certain element of pride to her voice as she said it.

Singh rolled his eyes. "Seemed more like his girlfriend to me."

Once in Barry's lab, the forensic scientist handed the file over to his boss, then exchanged a guilty look with the amused Caitlin.

"Clean up your lab. It's a mess." The Captain said rudely, walking out and leaving the two of them alone.

As soon as he was gone Caitlin gave Barry a smirk. "Using you powers for your job now as well, are we?"

He shrugged. "Nobody said it wasn't aloud. But we should get to work."

While they worked they were quiet. Barry sat at his desk fiddling with a model of DNA while Caitlin looked around. Finally, Barry spoke. "Can I ask you something that you don't have to answer?"

"My least favorite kind of question." Caitlin said dryly. "Shoot."

"Ronnie. What was he like?" Barry looked up at her, wondering if she would, in fact, respond. She glanced up at him sharply. "You just... never talk about him that much."

"He was eight when I was born. He practically raised me, and we were closer than you would imagine. He started working on the Particle Accelerator with me. He was the structural engineer. He liked to joke that he was basically a high priced plumber." She tried to smile, and Barry gave her an small laugh in response.

"We were so different, especially for siblings. You might have noticed I am a bit... reserved. Ronnie could always make me laugh. He always knew what to say to make me feel better." Barry reached over and rubbed her arm, and she sighed.

Caitlin stopped for a moment, and took a deep breath. Barry got the feeling that this part was a little harder for her. "He wasn't supposed to be there that night. He was just there for me, like the great brother he was. He hadn't-"

She would have said something else, but the beeping of the machine interrupted her. She picked up the piece of paper and Barry barely contained a sigh. He had been _so close_ to breaking her walls down; finally getting to why she was so tough for him to worm his way into her heart.

"It says that there was no residue of gas in the tissue, poisonous or otherwise." Caitlin read.

Barry sat up more, confusion written all over his face. "It must have evaporated." He sighed. "We'll need to get a fresh sample."

Caitlin around the desk to show him the paper. "Wait, this can't be right. It says that there are two _distinct_ types of DNA inside the tissue."

"How did someone else's DNA get inside the victims lungs?" The two of them exchanged worried glances, then looked back to the computer.

"There's no DNA match in the database." Barry said finally, after his computer had read the scans.

"I don't understand. Why would a chemical attack leave behind another person's DNA inside the victim?"

Barry stared at his screen as an idea started to form, then looked up at Caitlin. "What if the metahuman we're looking for doesn't control gas. What if he _becomes_ it?"

Caitlin cocked her head, considering. Before she could reply, a police report came through the small device on Barry's desk, talking about a poisonous gas attack.

Barry started to stand, and Caitlin began to speak. "Barry, don't. We don't know enough about what we're facing yet." She pleaded. Barry, ignoring her, went her his cabinet for his stuff.

"It's not safe!" She cried, gabbing his arm.

Barry finally turned her her, and Caitlin knew that anything she would try to say would be fruitless. "Caitlin." He said gravely. "I have to go."

Before she could even blink, he had kissed her forehead and zoomed off. Memories of her brother, uttering those same words before rushing out to be a hero, overwhelmed her and she bit her lip, wondering if Barry would make it out alive this time.

* * *

"Barry. Barry can you hear me?" Harrison yelled over the com.

"His vitals are weak but he's alive, Dr. Wells, I'm sure he's fine." Cisco pointed out, much more calmly.

As if on cue, Barry rushed into the room, coughing and spluttering. "I can't breathe." He managed, gasped in rough breaths of air.

"He needs oxygen; get Snow!"

"Barry!" Caitlin yelled as the Flash was thrown unto a bed, Cisco running a special medical tool over his chest. "Barry. You're going to be ok. I've got you."

"Cut me open-" Barry wheezed. "I think the poison's still in me."

"He brought us a sample." Dr. Wells said, his face serious. "Caitlin, we need to do a pulmonary biopsy; extract an active portion of that gas."

Caitlin, her face pale but set, gently placed her hand on Barry's leg. "I can't give you any anesthetic; your metabolism with burn right through it!"

"I heal quick, remember?" Barry choked, locking eyes with her and giving her the real message. _I trust you_. She felt her insides twist, and she grabbed his hand, letting him squeeze it, _hard_.

"Do it." Harrison insisted.

"Cisco, give me the syringe." Heart in her throat, she took the long, wicked looking needle from her friend. "This is going to hurt. _A lot_." She told Barry, fear in her eyes, though her hands were steady.

"It's a small needle. You probably won't even feel it." Cisco, ever the optimist, tried to reassure Barry.

"You're definitely going to feel it." Caitlin raised the needle and stabbed downward.

Barry screamed.

* * *

A small, persistent bleeping noise infiltrated Barry's consciousness as he slowly woke up.

"The streak lives." Cisco's grinning face came into view, and Barry offered him a weak smile in return.

"You'd be dead if your lung cells didn't regenerate so quickly." Caitlin's face was considerably less happy. Her face was drawn and tired, and she looked scared.

"Ahh... my chest feels like that one time I had a cigarette." Barry sat up slightly. Caitlin gave him an odd look. "Yeah, my teenaged self lived for trouble."

"This isn't funny!" Caitlin snapped. "You could have-"

"I didn't." Barry interrupted. Caitlin kept his gaze for another second, then turned and stormed off.

The next he saw of her, she was sitting in the treadmill room. Barry walked in and sat down quietly next to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Caitlin looked over at him. "It's ok. I get it. You had to go. It's just... that's the last thing Ronnie said to me that night."

Barry sighed and gently took her hand. "My mother died 14 years ago. I used to think that the further away I got from it the less it would hurt. But somedays the pain is worse then the day it happened."

He looked over and Caitlin nodded. "Somethings you can't fight."

"For so long, I've been terrified of going into that hole."

Barry stayed quiet for a moment, then said. "What if I go with you?" He stood up and extended a hand. She grasped it gently in one of her own, and let him lead her down to the room she had avoided for so long.

When they arrived in the Particle Accelerator, Caitlin was overwhelmed by memories. They flooded every sense of her being; Cisco being down here, giving her the comm, talking to her brother for the very last time.

She felt tears prick at her eyes as Barry took her hand. "No one will even know how much of a hero he was that night."

"I will." Barry murmured. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. Every part of him was set tingling, and he shivered a little.

Caitlin leaned her head unto his chest, snuggling herself in his arms and breathing him in with a sigh of contentment. _Ronnie would have liked Barry_. She smiled at the thought.

"Barry, Caitlin: You down there?" Came Cisco's voice from one of the coms on the wall. They reluctantly pulled apart, and Caitlin felt a red streak (A:N: Haha, you see what I did there? The red streak? That was pretty good.. :) of embarrassment streaking across her face, even though she hadn't actually been doing anything wrong.

Barry glanced at her and then at the wall, cursing Cisco in his mind. Of course he _had_ to interrupt right then. It was just his luck.

But he couldn't just leave his friend hanging. So he took Caitlin's hand once again and led her up the steps and out of the Particle Accelerator.

* * *

He used the antidote for Joe. It was all that she could focus on. If he got hit, if the Mist, or whatever the heck Cisco had been calling him, went inside his lungs again... "Barry, you have to stay away from him! Do _not_ breathe him in." Barry was trying to fight him, and it wasn't working. "Barry!" Caitlin yelled into the com. "You can't fight him. Just... keep him moving. Maybe it will keep him distracted.

There was a fight, everyone in S.T.A.R. Labs could tell. Barry was panting in the mic, and there were the sounds of him using his speed. Then, silence.

"Barry?" Cisco asked.

"I'm good." Barry told them, and as Caitlin collapsed back into her chair, she wondered if this would ever get easier.

Once Barry had returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, things had calmed down some. Caitlin walked up to Barry and smiled at him. "Nice work, Mr. Allen."

"Thank you, Dr. Snow." He grinned, realizing that those were their own forms of endearment for each other. "How are you fairing?"

"You know what?" Caitlin asked, taking his hand in her own and leaning her head on his bicep. "I'm pretty ok. So thank you, Barry."

"I didn't know Ronnie." Barry said. "But I think that any big brother would want his sister to move on and keep living her life to the fullest."

"I think you're right." Agreed Caitlin softly. "I think you're right."

 **Author's Note: OMG, I'm so very sorry that took so long to get up. And for those who wanted a date... it will happen, I promise. I just figured that while she was grieving wasn't the best time.**

 **Guys, my muses are panting like they just ran a marathon without any training or a break. But! Reviews, especially nice ones, give them extreme bursts of energy that will prompt them to write episode 4. So if you review, don't do it for me. Do it for my muses, and do it for yourself so it doesn't take me anther year to get the next chapter up!**


	4. 1x04

**Author's Note: Hello my lovelies! Ready for 1x04? I sure am! May the writing begin!**

"This isn't even remotely atomically correct." Caitlin complained, trying, and failing to get another piece out of the "body" she was "operating" on.

"That's not the point Dr. Snow." Barry told her, flashing over and neatly picking a piece up. He gave her a wink that sent a tingle down her spine, then rushed away again to hit the ping pong ball back to Cisco.

"Then what is the point." She asked him in exasperation, pushing her hair out of her face from where it had blown when he ran away.

"To have fun!" Barry cried, hitting his ball back and forth with Cisco a few more times, waiting for her to try again.

She did, but the buzzer rang out and filled the room with noise. Caitlin blushed and humphed. Barry ran over and gave her a mock pout. "Not used to be worse at something medical then anyone else are we?"

Caitlin reached out a hand to hit his shoulder but he was already on the move again. She rolled her eyes.

Dr. Wells rolled his wheel chair into the room. "Your accuracy is getting better, Mr. Allen. I'm impressed."

"Thank you!" Barry beamed.

Caitlin laughed at his facial expression, and tried once more to lift out a piece. _BUZZZ_. "Oh, I give up." She groaned. "You win Barry."

"Maybe on that he does!" Cisco crowed triumphantly, taking advantage of Barry's distraction and scoring another point in their ping-pong game, "But he just LOST with this! Burn..."

Just then, the police report blared into their room. Barry was off and running.

Felicity Smoak. Caitlin had met her a few times, when she had come to visit Barry after he got struck by lighting. She was spunky and smart, but talked _so_ much. But Caitlin still met her with a smile. "It is, of course, so good to see you again Felicity. I'm just wondering how much of our operation she needs to know about." She sent a significant glance at Barry.

Felicity nodded in understanding. "I'm really good a keeping secrets."

Barry glanced at Felicity and then back at Caitlin. He grinned. "Yeah, Felicity works with the Arrow."

"And you, apparently, are not." Felicity muttered with a fond shake of her head.

"Sweet!" Cisco commented from behind his desk. "Now everything makes sense! You know who the Arrow is!" He glanced at Barry. "Wait.. do _you_ know who the Arrow is?"

"Well, um..." Barry stuttered.

Felicity cut him off, rescuing him from an awkward situation. "Let's just say that my team has a similar set up. But with more pointy objects."

"Welcome Mrs. Smoak." Harrison said, surprising him all with his entrance at the doorway. Felicity's ponytail whipped around as she turned, nearly slapping Barry in the face.

"Dr. Wells? The Dr. Wells?"

"Please, call me Harrison, Felicity." Dr. Wells smiled graciously.

"You know who I am?" Felicity's eyes turned round as saucers and she gaped in surprise.

Wells continued to list everything that Felicity had ever accomplished, and a beaming smile stretched across the blonds face. Caitlin looked at her high-heeled feet, suddenly feeling very unaccomplished. What had she really done since meeting Barry? _Well, you met Barry_. A voice in her head reminded her. And looking up at him, she was glad she had stayed.

As Barry ran at super speed on his treadmill, Felicity questioned Caitlin worriedly about his vitals.

"They're completely normal." She assured her. "For him, anyway."

"Hey, Felicity!" Barry yelled out to the group. "You wanna see how fast I can run backwards?"

Before anyone could tell him how stupid that idea was, he had crashed into the wall. "Don't worry." Caitlin smiled at how high Felicity's eyebrows were on her forehead as she turned in alarm. "He heals fast, too."

True to her word, Barry was fine and on his feet a few minutes later. Cisco had offered to show Felicity around the city, so it left the two of them alone. Caitlin walked over to Barry. "Hey, you still haven't given me that date I asked for."

Barry slapped his forehead, looking guilty. "Right! Sorry. We never rescheduled after Joe called me in." Then he brightened. "Iris and Eddie invited me to a trivia night. I was going to bring Felicity, but you could come instead!"

Caitlin tried not to frown at the fact that he was going to bring Felicity instead of her. "Well, if you had wanted to bring her..."

Barry smiled. "Caitlin, it wasn't me picking her over you, don't worry. I just figured that she would want to go _do_ something, other then helping us save the world, of course, and that would be a good thing to try out."

"How about we both go?" Caitlin asked, feeling like a dramatic high-schooler after her brief moment of jealousy. It was unlike her. "It will be fun, and then we can always go do something after, unless something pops up."

"Great!" Barry beamed. "You really are fantastic, Caitlin Snow."

His phone buzzed, and he frowned at it. "It's Joe, I have to go. See you tonight?" **(A.N: I'm sorry if I took too much of a twist of off that scene. I couldn't find the order of things in videos online, so I had to do it from memory and make it up. And the rest of this might be really out of order.)**

"Party people, who's ready to get this trivia on?" The announcer yelled into the crowd. "Alright everyone we have some new challengers; everyone please welcome E=MC Hammer!"

The crowd cheered again, and Barry beamed excitedly at Iris and Eddie. They both looked confused. "You know, because E=MC squared..." He launched into a fast paced explanation, which neither Iris nor Eddie **(A.N: or me!)** understood.

Then he noticed Felicity and Caitlin walking over to them. Felicity grinned. "E=MC Hammer. I like it."

Caitlin shrugged. "And you too are the only people here who get it, so, you know what? It's all good."

Barry couldn't make a coherent sentence. Both girls were beautiful, yeah, but Caitlin looked like a rose in a field of dandelions (not that Felicity was a weed). She had on a stunning green dress that stopped just short of her knees, and had thin straps, decorated with sequins. The dress was low cut, but not drastically so, so it still reflected who Caitlin was.

"Did we totally overdress?" Felicity asked self-consciously.

"No, you look great." Iris said with a smiled.

"Yeah, yeah you do. Both of you." Barry stuttered, though he was only looking at Caitlin.

She gave him a shy smile and sat down beside Barry. "Sorry we're late. Felicity convinced me to do something with my hair other then curl it." She wrinkled her nose at the other girl.

Felicity laughed. "But aren't you glad you did?" She plopped herself down next to her friend and patted her messy, but pretty, bun.

Caitlin shook her head. "Alright. When does this thing start."

"It's actually already started." Iris said, and Barry quickly grabbed the tablet. He, Felicity and Caitlin launched into a heated debate as a high level, both of speed and intellect.

Eddie leaned over and asked Iris, "Are they even speaking English right now?" She shrugged, but then the announcer started dramatically, "And the points go to... E=MC Hammer!"

The three major nerds at the table gave each other high-fives as Iris and Eddie shook their head in amusement. "I knew you guys would make a good team." Iris smiled.

Eddie started to talk to Felicity about her job, which she answered with practiced ease, not even coming close to the topic of the Arrow. Barry turned to Caitlin. "Is this working for you? The three of us."

"Barry." She smiled gently. "It's fun." Then she playfully tapped his wrist. "Though I'm still looking foreword to my alone time with you."

Barry's heart rate elevated, even for him, and he gulped. "Uh, yup. Yeah, that will be great."

Eddie strode off to get drinks, and Felicity and Caitlin got up to use the bathroom. Iris turned to Barry. "So... what's the deal with you and Caitlin?"

"What? What do you mean?" Barry asked, eyes wide with face innocence. "Nothing's up with me and Caitlin."

"Uh huh." Iris didn't look convinced. "Sure, Barry. Sure."

"How are you and Eddie doing?" Barry questioned quickly, trying to get the attention off of himself.

"We're good..." Iris looked at him through narrowed eyes. "You're trying to change the subject."

"I am not!" Barry cried.

"Yes you are."

Thankfully for Barry, Eddie returned with more drinks. He pecked Iris on the lips. "Alright. What is the next question E=MC Hammer?"

15 minutes later a buzzer rang out. "I'm sorry guys. I thought I knew it and I got excited and I just hit it." Iris giggled.

"Well.. maybe they'll get it wrong too." Barry tried, and Caitlin had to commend him for his effort to be supportive.

Felicity didn't even try. "Oh yeah. I'm sure that the team with the name Pride and Padawan doesn't know the name of Han Solo's ship."

Caitlin sighed. "Cisco would be so disappointed in us."

The dinger rang out, and Eddie looked devastated. Iris took his face in her hands. "You know, honey, you're so cute when you're confused." They kissed and Barry and Caitlin exchanged awkward glances.

Then Eddie's phone beeped, and the smile was wiped off his face. "Somebody spotted Snart. I gotta go." He grabbed his coat and ran off toward the door.

The other three looked at each other and were quick to follow. "I'll cover for you." Felicity told them.

"Well, what're you going to say?" Barry asked putting on his coat and holding the door open for Caitlin.

"I usually tell people that Oliver's at a nightclub with a girl or nursing a hangover."

"Neither of those are going to work for me." Barry shook his head, and Caitlin bit back a laugh at how true it was.

"Ok, I'll just say that you two ran of to make out or something!" Felicity gestured at the two of them. "It's realistic."

Both Barry and Caitlin's faces turned as red as Barry's suit. "No." Caitlin stated firmly. "Think of something else."

"How about you got explosive diarrhea and had to leave?"

"Both of us?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

"Just go!" Felicity yelled.

Barry picked up Caitlin and whizzed off.

If he got hit by that cold gun... he had barely healed the last time. And now he wouldn't even speak to Cisco. She had tried to talk to him about it, but she didn't want to push too hard. She really hadn't known Barry all that long, so what could she say? It wasn't as if he valued her opinion over everyone else's. Or, at least she didn't think he did.

Barry was rushing into danger again. Danger that included the change of frostbite, or even death. Caitlin bit her lip unconsciously as Felicity hacked into the street cams, barely even able to appreciate how talented her friend was.

Felicity gasped as the sight of a train hurtling down the track. Caitlin glimpsed a figure in parka leap from the train. Then the train broke apart. Cisco leapt to his feet and ran out of the room. Caitlin stared after him, wondering what he was doing.

Flashes of speed lightning flitted in and out of the train, and people seemed to pop up as if from nowhere on the muddy ground. Caitlin bit her lip harder, fighting the urge to speak into the com, even though it was turned off.

There was one more streak of light and Barry was spit out of the train, landing hard on the ground. "Oh my gosh." Felicity breathed. "Look." She was pointing towards the corner of the screen, where Captain Cold was striding towards Barry's form. Felicity zoomed the camera in to get a better view, though Caitlin didn't really want to see what was going to happen next.

Then she was being grabbed by the arm, and Cisco was tugging her, with Felicity running behind. Dr. Wells was left calling after them, asking what they were doing.

Cisco leapt into the car with his machine, which Caitlin had just noticed he was holding. He sped at 90 miles per hour down the road, horns blaring from every direction. Caitlin was glued to her seat, sure that they were going to get in an accident.

They arrived in record time at the site for the train crash. Caitlin and Felicity grabbed part of Cisco's machine as he hurriedly explained his plan, and they all ran to where Cold and Barry were.

"Drop it." Cisco commanded.

Caitlin held her breath. It wasn't going to work. But Cold turned slowly around, his attention moving off Barry. "This is a prototype cold gun." Cisco stated, so confidently that Caitlin almost believed him. "4 times the size, 4 times the power."

Barry's expression was disbelieving, and Caitlin hoped with all her heart that maybe he would trust his friend after this.

"I was wondering who you were talking to." Cold said, glancing at Barry, gun still trained on him.

"Hey!" Cisco cried. "Unless you want to taste your own medicine, you should back the heck up."

"Your hands are shaking." Snart noticed, and Caitlin closed her eyes. "You've never killed anyone before.

Cisco didn't miss a beat. "There's a first time for everything..." He growled dangerously. "Captain Cold." Snart tilted his head back with a smile and Cisco re-adjusted his grip on the gun. "I will shoot you."

There was a long, tense, pause. Then Snart raised his gun. "You win, kid. I'll see you 'round." He turned and strode off.

"Hey!" Cisco called. "Leave the gun."

"Don't push your luck." Was all he said, and then he was gone.

Caitlin and Felicity gently set down the machine they were holding, and Cisco grinned. "Couldn't of shot him if I wanted to. This is actually the S.T.A.R. Labs vacuum cleaner." He chuckled maniacally. "With a _lot_ of LEDs."

Caitlin ran over to Barry and helped him sit up. "Hey, let's get you warm."

He didn't respond, instead reached over and clapped Cisco on the shoulder. "Thank you."

Cisco grabbed his hand and squeezed it, and Caitlin felt something warm blossoming in her chest. Things were going to be just fine after all.

Back at the Lab **(A.N: It's almost done, I promise!)** Caitlin was busy monitoring Barry's healing process. "You should be good." She smiled.

He poked his bare abs and frowned. "Will it always be this blue?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, your skin should return to normal with time. Here." She handed him a warm rice pack, which he took and pressed to his stomach with a sigh of happiness.

Then he stood and pulled her into his arms. Caitlin was a little startled, but let him hug her, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "You ok?" He whispered in her ear, and shivers danced up and down her spine.

"I'm glad you made up with Cisco." She told him honestly. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen to our team for a bit there."

"Even if our team falls apart..." Barry paused, then continued. "It doesn't mean we have to, Caitlin."

She smiled. "I didn't even know we were a we yet."

"Do you want to be a we?" He asked tentatively. "Maybe actually go on a real date? Without any interruptions?"

"You promise me this so much I think it's becoming a trend." She teased, and Barry laughed, chest rumbling against her cheek. "And you know there will be interruptions."

"There will always be interruptions." He admitted.

"But that's just our life, isn't it?"

"What's our life?" Came Cisco's voice from the hallway. The two of them leapt apart as he came to the doorway.

"Just craziness." Caitlin said hurriedly, before grabbing her purse and squeezing past him. "See you guys tomorrow."

She turned just before she was out of Barry's line of sight and winked at him. He turned red, and she felt a smile stretch across her face. Then she walked down the corridor and out of S.T.A.R. Labs.

 **Author's Note: HOLY SMOAKS. Guys. That was a REALLY long chapter.**

 **Here is the question. Would you prefer shorter chapters and more updates (like I break up the episode into multiple chapters), or do you want me to keep it the way it is?**


	5. 1x04 and a half

**Author's Note: This is for all you people that stick with me through my slow updates. Thank you for all your reviews and continued support and love. Here is the Snowbarry first (real) date:**

"No interruptions." Barry promised, grabbing Caitlin's hand as he led her up the steps.

"Right..." She agreed sarcastically, though her smile betrayed her.

He grinned back, and held open the door. "Ladies first."

She shook her head, but ducked into the restaurant. The mouth-watering smell of fried food hit her, and she immediately realized how much she wanted french fries. "Table for two, please." Barry told the waitress, and she led them over to a small table in the corner.

Barry pulled out her chair and Caitlin laughed. "Thank you, Barry, but I have been sitting down by myself for the past 26 years. I think I have it covered."

He shrugged and sat down across from her, picking up a menu and glancing at it. "What are you getting?"

She smiled. "Can I read the menu first?"

He flushed. "Right, sorry."

Caitlin grabbed his hand from across the table and squeezed it, then started looking over her own menu. "I want something with french fries."

"We could get a side of french fries." Barry suggested, already having decided what he wanted (it had to have a _lot_ of calories, because he was _starving_ )

"If we do that, you'll eat all of them before I get the chance." Caitlin teased playfully. "I think I'll get the lobster grilled cheese. And fries. What are you going to have? And remember-"

"Lot's of calories, yes, I know, Dr. Snow." He winked at her red face.

"Sorry. Old habits die hard." She admitted.

"I'm going to get the fish plate." Barry told her. "It's very big. I came here with Joe before I got struck by lighting, and we ended up just getting the fish plate to share."

"That should be perfect for you, then."

The waitress walked over then, and smiled at the two of them. "Hi, I'm Darcy, I'm going to be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

"Drinks!" Caitlin exclaimed. "I always look at food first, even though restaurants never fail to ask for drinks before food. Let's see..." She quickly analyzed the menu. "I'll get the house brown, please."

"Could I try the ginger brew?" Barry asked. The waitress nodded and quickly walked off.

Caitlin and Barry were silent for a moment. Then Caitlin started laughing. "You know, weird is so normal for us now that normal seems weird."

"Oh..." Barry looked disappointed. "You think this is weird?"

"No!" Caitlin cried quickly. "No, of course not. But we're just trying to force ourselves to not be our nerdy, Flash-centered selves and it's not working." With that they fell into an intense discussion of different things that Cisco could try with Barry's suit.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't noticed the man in the black suit watching them out of the corner of his eye and listening to everything they were saying.

Once their food had arrived they were silent. Barry inhaled his pile of fish (it really was huge), and Caitlin munched on her french fries.

"How many calories was that meal?" Caitlin asked suddenly.

"Um... I don't know..." Barry gave her a weird look.

She smirked. "I just don't want you passing out in the middle of our date again."

"Well, maybe we'll just have to get desert!" Barry told her happily, and ordered chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream when the waitress came back. He ended up eating most of it.

Then they came to the matter of the check. Caitlin glared at him when he offered to pay. "I can pay for my own meal."

"No!" Barry exclaimed. A few people looked over. "I mean, it's kind of a thing for the guys to pay. Please..." He gave her his most adorable puppy dog eyes and she sighed, and relented.

They walked out of the restaurant both very full (though it wouldn't last very long for Barry), and hand in hand. They were so engrossed in each other that they still failed to notice the man who had been watching them.

Dr. Harrison Wells flicked a few crumbs off of his black suit, and smiled. This was an interesting development. One that even he hadn't expected...

 **Author's Note: Duh duh duuuuuuuuuuuh... Sorry, I had to throw that last bit in. Now Dr. Wells knows! But will he say anything about it?**


	6. 1x05

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Just to let you know, if you didn't read the previous chapter (the one that was in between 1x04 and 1x05), that's ok, but a later thing that happens won't make sense.**

 _Some friends you just know are going to be by your side for awhile. And then there are some friends that you hope someday are going to become something more._ Barry contemplated this for a moment as he watched Caitlin and Cisco standing around a table with their drinks. He knew that he and Caitlin had something special, but he wanted it to be more then that. He wanted her to be with him forever. But he wasn't sure if she was ready to make that commitment.

It was way too soon, he knew. But everything had been mixed up since he had become the Flash. He and Caitlin had already been through more life and death situations in 4 weeks then one person went through in their entire life, and he felt a bond to her that he would not have thought possible considering how long he had actually known her.

Iris walked up to him and smiled, jarring him out of his thoughts. "I'm glad you invited Caitlin and Cisco."

"They're cool, right?" He grinned, looking over at them again and watching how Caitlin's hair swished down her back as she moved.

"They saved your life, Barry." Iris stated, following his gaze. "That makes them the coolest people in the world. It's nice that you guys became friends." Iris raised her glass. "To friends, old and new." They clinked shot glasses and drowned them in a gulp.

Iris shuddered from the strong taste but Barry felt... nothing. Not the usual tingly sensations **(A.N: Do you feel tingly when you drink? I don't know.. never done it before)** or the burn down his throat, with the lightheadedness afterwards.

He strode over to Caitlin and Cisco. "Guys. I have a problem." Caitlin turned her attention away from Iris and Eddie's dart game.

Cisco didn't. "Yeah, we all do when guys like him exist." Barry and Caitlin followed his gaze over to Eddie.

Caitlin sighed dreamily. "Yeah.. he's so hot." Then her head whipped back to meet Barry's glower. "I mean genetically speaking. Because I'm a geneticist, of course." Her face fell. "Oh my gosh. I sound like Felicity."

Barry rolled his eyes and ignored her, though a little flame of jealousy had sprung up in his gut. "I'm not talking about Eddie. I'm talking about this." He downed his tray of shots at super speed, one after another. "I don't feel anything."

"Yeah, that's what's supposed to happen after you drink that much." Cisco told him with a raised eyebrow. Caitlin laughed.

Barry was not laughing at this point. "No, guys, alcohol is literally not affecting me. I feel _nothing_."

Eyes lighting up like a candle, Caitlin started to grin. "It's your hypo-metabolism." She bounced a little with excitement, before grabbing her bag. "I need a sample."

"I'll get more shots." Cisco told them before running off to the bar.

"I swear I had a blood taker in here..." Caitlin was still rummaging in her bag.

Barry stared at her incredulously. "You carry a blood sampling kit in your purse?" She was so cute when she was concentrating... but he was looking focus.

"You have your hobbies..." She nodded towards the plate of drinks. She took his blood and put it in a small machine.

Cisco came back with another round of shots and they all drank. "Still nothing?" He asked Barry.

Barry shook his head. "Guys, I can't get drunk. I'm only _25_ and my drinking days are already over." He made a face at Caitlin and she frowned at her purse.

Eddie walked over. "Sorry, I got to go. There's an emergency."

Iris ran after him, muttering excuses. "Well that was weird..." Barry said. "See you guys later. We are figuring out this drinking problem." Then he flashed out of the bar.

* * *

"Just run really fast up the building, Barry!" Caitlin instructed, as he stood under the window worker that was about to fall from the 30 story building. "But you have to maintain your speed on the way down, or..."

"Or what?" Barry yelled into his mic.

Caitlin traded a glance with Cisco. "Splat." She grimaced.

"Great." Barry panted. Then he rushed up the side of the building. Caitlin and Cisco, still seated at the bar, had no visuals on him. They could hear the sounds of him panting as he ran, and the rush of the speed lighting, but if he didn't arrive safely on the ground... Caitlin bit her lip, hard. _Splat_.

Thankfully for her heart (both because it was pounding and because she wasn't quite sure _what_ she would do if he died running down a building), Barry grabbed the terrified young man from his window cleaning shelf and maintained perfect speed as he rushed down the building.

He deposited the man on the ground and sped back to the bar, already changed into normal clothes. "Well, _that_ was exciting." He panted, trying to flatten his hair.

Caitlin sent him a glare that would melt iron. "Stack up a bunch of mattresses? Really?" That set Cisco off, and soon all three of them were laughing and leaning against the table for support.

Barry slid his hand to the small of Caitlin's back under pretense of leaning on her, and she abruptly stopped giggling at the electing bolt and arched up her spine. Cisco stared at them suspiciously and Barry quickly moved his hand.

Caitlin wasn't quite sure why they were keeping all of this a secret. True, they had only gone on one real date, so they weren't _technically_ dating yet. But she supposed that they were not telling anyone in case it was never really a thing. In case their relationship didn't work out. It was just easier that way.

And, anyway, Caitlin didn't want to turn into the S.T.A.R. Labs version of Iris and Eddie. Those two were cute, sure, but they were on _top_ of each other! She didn't exactly think that Dr. Wells would tolerate that from them.

Still, maybe she was over thinking this. Maybe it would be easier if they just told everyone. She would have to talk to Barry about it later.

* * *

She didn't get the chance to talk to him about it for awhile. "I'm sure that there is a perfectly good reason why he's not responding." She assured Cisco, though her insides were knotted with worry. Then she broke. "BARRY!"

At that very moment Barry flashed in, pulling on his shirt. "Uh..." Caitlin choked. My _gosh_ he had gorgeous abs.

"Don't ask." Barry grumbled, walking over to the desk.

"I'm gonna ask." Cisco ground out. "Where's my suit?"

"Gone."

"What do you mean it's gone?" Cisco asked dangerously. "What did you do with my suit?"

"It blew up dude. It went... Kaboom."

"My suit..." Cisco stopped, incredulousness written all over his face. Caitlin's lips twitched. "Went... Kaboom?"

"Don't you have 3 others or something?" Caitlin asked him with a smile.

He glared at her. "I have two, and I liked that one." He hopped on his computer. "I'm gonna find this girl and send her butt into the pipeline. Nobody blows up my suit and gets away with it..." He trailed off and fell into his seat. "Unless she looks like that..."

Caitlin rolled her eyes at Barry. He shook his head. "It was weird though. She's a meta... but it didn't seem like she wanted to hurt me."

Caitlin was less forgiving. "She tried to blow you up, Barry. I think that counts as trying to hurt you."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know, but she acted like she didn't want to blow me up, if you know what I mean. She seemed nice, and she gave me a chance to get away."

 _Nice, huh_? Caitlin grumbled in her head. _And I bet she's really pretty, too, by Cisco's reaction_. She crossed her arms. "Well, maybe you should try to get her back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and we can see what she can do."

Cisco grinned. "Oh yeah. Get her back to S.T.A.R. Labs, dude. Now."

He did bring her back. Bette Sans Souci, the first female meta they got, was tall and pretty and scared, and Caitlin felt really bad for her. It didn't make her any less jealous of the attention that Barry was giving her.

Harrison handed her a pair of gloves to prevent her from blowing anything else up, as they talked to her about the different metas.

"So, there are others like me?" Bette asked in amazement.

"There have been a few." Caitlin told her.

"But.." Cisco gave her his most flirtatious smile and Caitlin closed her eyes in preparation of how awkward this was going to get. "None that look like you." Barry placed his head in his hands, and Cisco reconsidered. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate." He laughed nervously and murmured. "Please don't leave."

Caitlin leaned toward him dangerously. "You do realize I am capable of preforming a lobotomy?"

Barry cleared his throat. "How about we go run some tests now?"

Cisco eagerly jumped up and led Bette out of the room. He grandly produced his table of objects, balls, frisbees, a boomerang _(wait, what?)_ , and explained how she would turn each of them into bombs and throw them.

Bette picked up a frisbee and tossed it into the air. It exploded a few seconds after. "You have nearly as much kaboom as a Plastique!" Cisco commented, looking down at his tablet. "Wait, that's it! Plastique! Ha, first try."

Caitlin shook her head fondly and picked up the boomerang. "You really didn't think this one through, did you?"

He frowned at it. "Huh. Yeah, nope!"

Caitlin put down the toy and watch Barry and the newly named "Plastique" talk. She sighed. Was she just being jealous, or was he really just ignoring her today?

* * *

"Caitlin was about to give me the not-so-good news." Bette said gravely.

Caitlin bit her lip. "Unfortunately, the shrapnel in your body from General Elling has merged with you at a cellular level."

Bette looked at the ground, and Dr. Wells spoke up. "The technology required to un-splice your DNA... it hasn't been invented yet."

Tears filled Bette's eyes, but she nodded. "Bette..." Barry started.

She shook her head. "It's ok. I just.. just need a minute." She started out of the room. "Don't worry. I think I can still cry without blowing stuff up."

She strode out of the room, and Barry turned to go after her, but Caitlin stopped him. "Let me do it, Barry. I know this may sound weird, but sometimes a female just needs another female."

He nodded and she walked into the hallway. "Hey, Bette?" Caitlin slid down the wall beside where she was crouched, crying into her arms.

She looked up. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're ok." Caitlin said .

"Not really!" The other woman bit out. Then her gaze softened. "I'm sorry. It hasn't been the best day to day."

"That is completely understandable." Caitlin agreed. "I wasn't sure if you wanted anyone with you. And Bette... there's still a chance for you to survive. Cisco will work as hard as possible. I think he's got a crush on you."

Bette half laughed, half sobbed. "Ha, yeah, somehow I noticed."

Caitlin took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry. I don't think I've been very nice to you." She stared at the wall, not meeting Bette's eyes. "To tell you the truth, I was jealous at first. I haven't been in a relationship in a long time, and Barry was giving you so much undivided attention... well, I suppose my dramatic teenaged self was acting up."

Bette smiled at her. "I think that Barry was just being nice. He might have been giving me attention... but really, he couldn't take his eyes off of you. And it's not like I'm going to be dating anyone any time soon."

Caitlin gave her an understanding look. "It's ok to be afraid."

Bette shook her head. "You know, I'm not as scared as I thought I would be. Now that I... know I'm going to die.. I suppose I just wish I had done more with my life. Well, at least I'll go out with a bang."

Caitlin gave her a hug. "I'm going to go see if I can help. You want to come?"

"No, I'll stay here for a little while. Thank you though, Caitlin."

"No problem." Caitlin smiled.

"And, you know what?" Bette glanced up. "I think that Barry Allen really likes you. Don't let any other girls get in the way of that."

"You know what?" Caitlin repeated. "I won't."

* * *

Bette was dead. Caitlin still couldn't believe it. They had known it was going to happen... but still. It felt like a fist was clenching her stomach whenever she breathed too deeply.

Barry looked how she felt. He was pale, and his face was drawn, and she knew then that every death, even ones that weren't his fault, were going to be carried on his shoulders. She walked over to him. "You gonna be ok?"

He blinked quickly. "Yeah."

Caitlin tried for a smile. "You can run on water. Puts you in pretty interesting company." He laughed a little, and she counted that as an improvement. Caitlin wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "You know, when I was out there talking to Bette... she told me that she wasn't scared. She was ok with this."

"She might have been. I'm not."

"I know." Caitlin murmured. "I know." She let go of him, and ever so gently, pressed her lips to his cheek. Sparks spiraled down her spine, and she shivered in delight. Then she pulled away, and turned to walk out of S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Hey, Caitlin?" Barry called after her.

"What?"

"Thank you."

* * *

Caitlin and Cisco walked over to Barry, who was hunched over his table at the bar. He looked up at their arrival, and Caitlin gave him a smile. "Hey." Cisco greeted.

"Hey... what're you guys doing here?"

"We thought we should have a toast." Caitlin said, glancing over at Cisco with a smile.

Barry stared at his hands. "Doesn't work on me, remember?"

"Barry Allen." Caitlin reprimanded in her most flirtatious tone. Barry blinked. "You of all people should know that _nothing_ is impossible." She placed her black bag on the table and pulled out a small vial of alcohol.

Barry started to smile. "I distilled a highly fermented potent suspension." She shrugged. "It's basically 500 proof."

Barry uncapped the vial and sniffed. "Whoa."

"I figured if anyone can use a drink it's you." Caitlin picked up her glass. "So. Here's to Bette."

"To Bette." The boys responded as one. Then all three of them tipped back their glasses (or highly distilled vials).

Barry shook his head back and forth and coughed. "Agh! Whoa... oh ho wow. Drank that too quick."

He blinked hard and Caitlin winced. "Are you buzzed?" She asked excitedly.

"Um.. yeah. Yeah, I'm buzzed, for sure." He coughed again, and Caitlin bounced on her toes excitedly. "Whoa. That is good stuff..." He looked at her with a grin, which faded after a second. "And it's gone."

Caitlin's face fell. "Work in progress." She amended.

He gave her a gentle smile. "Even works in progress are good." And Caitlin had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't just talking about drinks anymore.

"Yeah." She whispered. "They are."

 **Author's Note: HOLY SMOAKS! I think that one is the longest yet. Actually.. maybe the last one was longer by a little bit.**

 **Did you like that? They kissed! Well... sort of. It's coming soon, I promise. Then the fun really starts!**


	7. 1x06

**Author's Note: Wow! We are already on 1x06! I hope everyone is enjoying this as much as I am!**

Caitlin couldn't stop thinking about Barry. She also couldn't stop thinking about how her lips had felt on his cheek, how soft and smooth and warm it was. And she could stop wondering how soft and smooth and warm his lips would be, pressed up against hers, her hands in his hair, running through those short soft locks... and then he would deepen the kiss, and she would moan and...

"Caitlin? Caitlin?! Paging Caitlin Snow? This is ground control to Caitlin Snow? CAITLIN?!" Cisco yelled in her face.

She jumped a few inches and shrieked. "Jeezum, Cisco! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I don't think that it is considered sneaking up on someone when the see you coming. Dude, I seriously thought that there was a new meta that could take peoples minds and transport them to other planets." Cisco gripped, and took a large chomp out of his red licorice stick.

Caitlin glared at him, but she was blushing. "I was just, you know, thinking about stuff. I have a lot on my mind."

"Yeah. You must." Cisco shook his head and smirked. "Want to get a coffee and talk about it?"

 _If only he knew..._ Caitlin thought. But she smiled in consent. "How about we invite Dr. Wells and go the three of us? Just like old times."

"I won't tell Barry if you don't!" Cisco cried as he raced out of the room. Caitlin rolled her eyes, but she followed, pushing the thought of kissing Barry into the far corner of her mind. For now.

* * *

When they arrived back at S.T.A.R. Labs, one of Caitlin's worst fears were awaiting her. Barry was lying unconscious on the ground, blood staining the corner of his mouth. "Barry?" Cisco asked in alarm.

Caitlin ran to his side. "Barry? Are you ok?" She placed her hand on his knee and he groaned. She gasped in surprise. "Oh my gosh." Her heart was pounding wildly in her throat, and black spots were starting to spring before her eyes.

Cisco grasped her shoulder. "Caitlin! Breathe! We are _not_ going to be able to help Barry if you have a- a _panic attack_ or something!"

Caitlin took a deep, shuddering breath and schooled her emotions. With the help of Cisco, she moved Barry to a med bed, trying not to jar him too badly. He groaned at every step anyway, and she felt her stomach clench. Whoever had done this to him...

Her checkup proceeded on autopilot. Caitlin took his blood pressure and hooked him up to a heart monitor. Then she took an x-ray. "Oh my.." Caitlin trailed off. "What _happened_ to him?"

Cisco stared at the screen. "I'm not even a doctor and that looks bad."

Caitlin settled down to work. She set his bones one after another, trying not to hear Barry's pained whimpers. Eventually he passed out fully, and that made it a little easier. She couldn't give him any drugs; his metabolism would burn right through them.

Once she was done, Caitlin collapsed into a chair. A couple minutes later Barry was moaning into consciousness.

"Hey, man. Welcome to the land of the living." Cisco grinned.

Barry blinked. "What?" He glanced at Caitlin. "Did I break something?"

"Ha." Caitlin muttered dryly. "Yeah, just a little. 13 fractures, that's a new record, and that's just in your hand." Caitlin told him, tightening the hand brace. "You also have a concussion, 3 cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen. Even with your powers... you'll need a few hours to heal." Just a few hours. He would be fine.

Barry nodded. "What exactly did you hit?" Harrison asked the question they were all wondering.

"A man." Barry said croakily. "A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like, it turned to metal."

Wells crossed his arms. "Interesting. A man of steal..."

"So you went after a meta human. Alone. Dude, why didn't you call us?" Cisco exclaimed.

"I didn't know what he was." Barry grumbled, wincing as he sat up. Caitlin frowned at him. "Besides, I was off duty."

"Hm!" Caitlin raised an eyebrow, and Barry turned around to meet her gaze. She crossed her arms. _Off duty indeed. Off duty with whom was the question._ She knew all about his pact with Joe about not telling Iris. She didn't agree with it, but it wasn't her place to argue. But she also had seen the news articles about "The Steak", written by none other them Iris West herself. Now why would she be doing that, unless a certain someone had come to see her...?

Cisco didn't catch the non-verbal exchange. "You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth. Those puppies don't grow back."

"The strange thing is... I feel like I knew him." Barry murmured.

Caitlin tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

Barry glanced over his shoulder at her again and shook his head. "Well, he said something that was... familiar." He shook himself out of his thoughts. "But he's going to hurt someone if we don't stop him, so how to I fight a man of steel?"

"We will find a way." Dr. Wells assured him. "But tonight, you heal."

"Yeah." Breathed Barry as he swung his legs back over the side of the bed.

* * *

"I call him Girder." Cisco said proudly as he and Barry looked at the metal, man shaped machine that was in the treadmill room.

"For the record," Caitlin was quick to put in. "Not my idea."

"Alright, let's do this, baby!" Cisco yelled, using his remote to jar the machine into action.

Barry looked over his shoulder at Caitlin pleadingly, but she just smiled. "I have ice and bandages standing by."

With a sigh, Barry turned back to "Girder", and flashed into motion. He rapidly punched the metal side of Cisco's creation, but he didn't even make a dent. Girder lit out one metal hand and hit him in the arm. Barry fell to the ground with a yell of pain.

Caitlin sighed. "Again? Really? I told you this was a stupid idea."

"I'm pretty sure I just dislocated my shoulder." Wheezed Barry pitifully.

Caitlin and Cisco helped him up and led him to the check up table. Caitlin carefully grasped his wrist and moved his arm. He groaned. "Ok, not going to lie: this is going to be quick, but extremely painful."

Barry nodded with a wheeze. Then his phone rang. "Speaking of pain. Eddie, hey!"

Caitlin checked her watch and sent Barry a significant glance. He quickly wrapped up the phone call with a "Great, I'll see you in a sec.", then moved to lay down. "Ok, let's do this."

Placing on hand on his shoulder, Caitlin grasped Barry's wrist again. She ignored how tingly her hand was feeling at the touch, and instead focused on something that would make her frustrated enough to be able to set Barry's shoulder. "So.. Barry." Caitlin comment casually. "When you say you were off duty last night, you weren't... visiting Iris again," Barry eye's snapped open. "You know, in disguise? Because that would be reckless, and a little creepy."

"No.." Barry croaked. My gosh, he was a bad lier.

"Good!" Caitlin chirped, and popped his arm into place. And if she took a little pleasure from the scream that followed, nobody had to know.

* * *

Barry flashed into an abandoned warehouse, dust and paper blowing in his wake. Then he flashed off again, looking for any sign of Girder. There wasn't.

When he arrived back where he had started, he saw steal leaking out of a large container. So this was how Girder had been made. He bent down closer to examine it, and noticed footprints in the puddle of hardened metal on the ground, leading away to somewhere.

Barry followed the footprints, noticing a few bottles of beer on a table, and a few rolls of cash. He pressed a finger to his com. "This is definitely the place."

Then he turned, and was met with a metal fist to the face. Barry flew across the room, pain blinding him for a moment. He crashed into a filing cabinet and fell to the ground. "There's nowhere left to run." Girder growled, and upturned the cabinet.

Barry's last thought was, _What will Caitlin say when she finds out I'm dead_? Then he blacked out.

* * *

"Barry?" Caitlin yelled.

"Barry, where are you?" Cisco caught a glimpse of some red. "Caitlin, over here."

They ran toward a collapsed filling cabinet. "Barry?!" Caitlin cried. She gasped when she saw his bloodied face peeking out from underneath the wreckage. "Please say something so we know your ok." Her stomach was in knots, and she felt like she was going to vomit, but she held it together.

Cisco grasped Barry's arm and began to gently pull. "Ow..." Barry moaned.

"Get him out of there!" Caitlin yelled at Cisco. Her legs felt like jelly from relief, though she still thought she might be sick.

With Caitlin's help, Cisco managed to remove Barry from the debris and bring him back to the van. Caitlin was near hysterics the whole time, until Barry took her hands and met her eyes. "Caitlin... I'm going to be ok."

She calmed down some after that, which was probably good, because Dr. Wells was far from calm when they brought him back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

* * *

"Why did he stop?" Caitlin whispered, staring at the screen as if it would hurt to look away.

"He's miles away." Cisco agreed. Then his eyes widened and he turned to look at Caitlin. "5.3 miles away."

 _No. No no no no no no no_. It was all she could think. Caitlin leaned toward the mic, yelling, "Barry, wait."

"No way, he's gonna do it!" They were both out of their chairs now, watching the little blip that was Barry's tracker racing back to where Tony was keeping Iris. "GO MAN GO!"

The tracker sped along the streets of Central City, and burst into the high school. Caitlin and Cisco could hear the sound of the punch even through the com. Cisco shot into the air and hollered. " _SUPER SONIC PUNCH BABY! WHOOOOO!_ "

Caitlin stared at the screen in shock, trying to register what had just happened. He had done it. Barry had stopped Girder.

* * *

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry was doing his little victory dance outside of Tony's new cell. "Dude..." Cisco grinned. "That had to feel _great_."

"You have no idea." Barry agreed.

Caitlin fell into step with him. "Almost as good as proving me wrong about the super sonic punch?" She teased.

"No, that actually hurt. Like, a lot." Barry admitted, smiling down at her. He turned to face them. "But I couldn't have done it without you guys."

Never to stay serious for long, Cisco asked, "All I wanna know is which childhood bully are we gonna take down next: Mine or Caitlin's?"

"Ok, yeah." Barry laughed, turning around to leave.

"I vote mine." Cisco continued. "Dude, don't walk away! I'm serious!"

"Caitlin's." Barry called back.

Caitlin grinned at her friends. "Ha."

"That's favoritism right there that is!" Cisco protested. Both of his friends ignored him and kept walking. "Hey! Don't you walk away from me!"

Falling into step beside Barry, Caitlin inconspicuously squeezed his hand. "Nice work, Streak."

Barry laughed. "That name has got to change."

"You better tell Iris that on your next roof talk meeting." Caitlin smiled innocently up at him. "You can't hide anything from me, Mr. Allen."

"Apparently not." Barry sighed. "Wouldn't want to anyway." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "See you tomorrow, Caitlin."

"Bye, Barry." Then he flashed away, leaving her with only the slight breeze, and a tingly feeling running up and down her back. "See you tomorrow."

 **Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this. Tell me what you think in the comments! Also, let me know which episode your most excited for, and if you have any ideas for future episodes. Who knows? You opinion might just sway the storyline! (maybe. There is a slight possibility. Don't get too excited)**


	8. 1x07

**Author's Note: Hi! I'm staying on schedule, which is great. This one is a very special chapter, so enjoy!**

This wasn't possible. Like, it literarily _wasn't possible_. Barry's speed was just... gone. Sucked out of him by that meta-human. Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells were all watching through the glass as Barry ran on his treadmill, but at a normal pace for once. "Wow." Cisco raised an eyebrow. "He's slow even for a normal human."

Sending him a glare that clearly said _Not helping_ , Caitlin turned back to her tablet. She had laid out Barry's vitals, a sample of his blood, he heart rate, anything that could help them figure out what had happened. So far, there was nothing useful.

Barry powered down the treadmill and sat down on the side, panting. The three scientists walking into the room.

"You can't just _lose_ you powers, ok? Your DNA was transformed by the particle accelerator. You can't just un-transform DNA." Caitlin told him.

"Yeah. Tell that to that Uber driver who charged me 65 bucks to get here." Barry shot back unhappily. "I had to tell her I was coming from a cosplay party."

Caitlin's lips almost twitched, but she held herself together. She knew that Barry was devastated from the loss of his speed, but she was absolutely positive that they could figure out a solution. They always had before, right?

* * *

Caitlin found Barry leaning against the side of the case where his suit was stored. He turned when she walked up, and she gave him a little smile. "Do you think I'll ever wear it again?"

"I hope so."

Barry finally turned away from his suit, and all the pain that seeing it probably brought. "I didn't have my speed for very long." He said. "But now that it's gone, it feels like... part of me is gone, too."

Caitlin sighed, and reached out to rub his arm. "With or without your speed, you're still you, Barry."

He nodded, but then shook his head. "But I'm not. I'm not the best version of me. I love being the Flash." Caitlin smiled gently at him, encouraging him to continue. Barry breathed out what could have been a laugh. "I love everything about it. The feeling of running _hundreds_ of miles an hour, wind and power just rushing past my face. Being able to help people... I'm not sure I can live without it, Caitlin."

Caitlin stepped forward. Her heart was pounding in her ears, but she reached up and gently interlaced her fingers behind Barry's neck. She was about to kiss him when- "Farooq Gibran." ( **A.N: HAHA! You thought they were going to kiss, didn't you? Well, you know what? So did I. But then I changed my mind last second and had Cisco interrupt :)** Cisco strode into the cortex, focusing completely on his tablet, and Caitlin yanked her hands from around Barry's neck. She crossed, then uncrossed her arms, before finally clasping her hands in front of her.

"What?" Barry mumbled, still staring at Caitlin.

"That's our guy." Cisco told him. "He was hit by the Particle Accelerator when he was climbing an electric tower. His friends were both killed, either by him or the explosion, I'm not sure."

"No surprise where his powers came from." Caitlin frowned.

A beeping surprised all three of them. "Oh gosh." Cisco gasped. "It's this is not happening. You have got to be kidding me."

They ran towards the camera feed that was pointed outside of S.T.A.R. Labs. "Dr. Wells!" Farooq's face was pale, and his skin was blackened around his eyes, which were an unearthly blue. "I need to talk to you! Come on, I know your inside, open the door!"

Caitlin turned to Barry, her eyes wide with fear. He couldn't protect them. Not without his speed. "WELLS!" Farooq suddenly exploded. "Lemme in!"

He stuck out his right hand and blasted a power circuit box with electricity. Then he yanked out two think wires, letting electricity flow through them. The lights in S.T.A.R Labs began to flicker. Farooq was draining all the city's energy.

Farooq let go of the wires, and S.T.A.R Labs was plunged into darkness. The the entire building started to shake. The trio in front of the computers could see nothing of what was going on with the power out.

Barry exchanged wide-eyed glances with his friends. "He's inside."

* * *

"The treadmill." Cisco realized. They were all in the Cortex, hiding from Farooq and trying to figure out how to get Barry's powers back. Dr. Wells looked up. He nodded. "My baby can take the charge." Cisco continued.

"What if Barry can't?" Caitlin asked him, her heart pounding almost as much as it had when she was about to kiss Barry.

"Well that's up to Mr. Allen." Even with everything going on, Wells sounded calm and in control. For once it didn't help Caitlin.

Barry turned and began to stride quickly towards the door. "Where are you going?" Caitlin cried after him.

He turned to face them. "I'm gonna talk to him."

"No." Harrison denied immediately.

"He may just need help." Barry argued. "Like I did. I don't need my powers to offer him that."

Caitlin was suddenly overwhelmed by the rush of affection she had for the man in front of her. Even without his powers, he was still the most wonderful and heroic person she knew.

"I have to try." Then Barry turned and strode away.

* * *

His talk had not gone well. Barry had been blasted in the chest, and Caitlin's heart was still hammering from the shock and fear off seeing him blown across the room. They had come to their last chance of survival. As dramatic as it sounded... the truth was that it was completely real. That didn't mean that Caitlin had to like it.

Caitlin helped Barry to sit down, looking at him with the most concerned expression that he had ever seen. "I'm not healing fast anymore." He noticed. Caitlin shook her head. "That's unfortunate."

"Don't worry." Caitlin assured him, though she was mostly trying to convince herself. She ran over to plug in the treadmill. "When Dr. Wells has a theory, he's usually right.

"What if something happens to Joe and Iris first?" Barry asked. Caitlin felt a twinge of guilt. In all that had happened, she had forgotten that Joe and Iris were being held hostage by the Clock King.

Before she could respond, there was the sound of footsteps outside the door. She and Barry both froze. Before she could register what had happened, Barry had rushed to his feet and pulled her over to the wall directly under the window. They could still here the sounds of electricity pulsing from Farooq's hands.

Caitlin was shaking uncontrollably, pressed up to Barry's side. He grabbed her hand and squeezed hard. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few tense seconds, Farooq moved on.

Releasing the breath she hadn't quite realized she was holding, Caitlin and Barry stood up and strode as quietly as they could out of the room. Barry immediately got unto the treadmill.

"Turn on the treadmill." He ordered.

"No, Barry you're still hurt!" Caitlin cried.

"We don't have time." He yelled. It was the first time he had yelled at her, and it jarred her to the core. He was just as scared as she was.

But still she hesitated in front of the switch. "Caitlin!" He bellowed.

"I can't." She whimpered. What if he didn't make it? What would they do then? What would _she_ do?

"We don't have a choice."

"If I turn this on it could kill you." Caitlin felt tears starting to burn in her eyes.

Barry's gaze softened. "If you don't we could all die."

"I already lost someone I cared about in this building. I can't do it again." Ronnie. She had lost her brother and that still hurt. If she lost Barry, too...

Barry's chin sagged onto his chest. When he looked up his eyes were caring, but determined. "Someone once told me I was chosen by that lighting for a reason. That it chose me. I'm not sure I believe it. Right now, it doesn't matter what I believe." He turned again and gripped the treadmill. "What do you believe?"

In seconds she was gripping his shirt and kissing him like there was no tomorrow. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes and across her entire body. Caitlin felt so much passion in the kiss, so much emotion coursing through her bloodstream that she felt as though she would burst.

Barry pulled away first, panting, but with a new light in his eyes. Caitlin nodded, and yanked the power switch.

 **(A.N: I'm sorry, I just had to stop for a second to say: OH MY GOSH! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED! 3 and 1/2 weeks of writing, and they FINALLY KISSED! WHOOOOOOOOOO)**

Electricity, almost as strong as what had just passed between the two of them, coursed into the treadmill and up Barry's arms. He jerked and yelled, and finally ripped himself off of the machine.

Caitlin watched as Barry's flew across the room, and landed with a thud against the wall. She raced over to him, kneeling down next to his shifting form. "Are you ok? Did you feel anything?" She realized that she wasn't just asking about him getting his speed back.

Barry held a hand in front of his face. It vibrated for a second, but then it was done. "It didn't work."

Caitlin's stomach dropped. Then the sound of bending metal made them both jump. Caitlin extended a hand to help Barry up, and they walked towards the noise.

When they got around the corner, there, of all people, was Girder. He came hurtling into the room, thrown by a bolt of energy. "Tony." Barry knelt beside the man who had bullied him all his childhood. "Tony, man, what are you doing?"

Tony groaned out an explanation that Caitlin couldn't understand. Then he closed his eyes. He would never open then again. Caitlin noticed Farooq, coming slowly around the corner. "Oh, Barry!" Caitlin grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the way, a second before another bold of electricity landed just where they had been standing.

Caitlin dragged Barry down the hall, with one of his arms draped over her shoulders. They found Cisco and Dr. Wells in an empty room.

"You're winded. That's not good." Cisco commented nervously.

Caitlin ignored him, rolling up Barry's sleeve. "I need to take your blood to figure out what happened."

Barry, still panting, rubbed his face. "I- I just can't believe he's dead."

Cisco looked shocked. "Dr. Wells is dead?!"

"No, no." Barry shook his head as Caitlin found his vein and stabbed it with a need. "Tony Woodland."

"He escaped from the pipeline." Caitlin told Cisco.

"He must have gotten out when the blackout happened." Barry continued.

"I let him out." All three of them whipped around. Dr. Harrison Wells wheeled slowly around the corner, face drawn, but without any sign of guilt. "He was our best bet at distracting Farooq."

Barry exploded at him. "You let him out so he would die for us? How could you do that? He might be a bad guy, but he doesn't deserve to die!"

"I did what I thought was best." Harrison told him calmly. "Did the treadmill work?"

"Obviously not." Caitlin snapped.

"My powers are still gone! And this Farooq guy is going to kill us all. Then Iris and Joe are going to die because the Flash won't be able to save them." Barry buried his face in his hands.

"I think I've figured it out." Cisco stated. Everyones attention shifted to him. "I think what you have right now Barry, is a textbook case of the yips. The only thing stoping you from getting your speed back... is you."

Caitlin walked up to Barry. "Look. You asked if I thought you were struck by lighting for a reason. If you were chosen. I believe. You should too."

At that moment Barry really wanted to kiss her again, to make everything else disappear and just hold her in his arms. But Cisco and Wells were standing right there, and Farooq was still inside the building. So he only nodded.

"Right now, however." Wells cut in, "I think our best plan is to escape and lock Farooq inside S.T.A.R. Labs until Mr. Allen gets his speed back." And even thought none of then wanted to listen to Wells at that moment, it seemed like the best plan.

* * *

So that was how Caitlin found herself running over to Barry's groaning form, from where he had been blasted out of his escape van. Caitlin ran to his side.

She helped Barry sit up. "Oh my gosh, are you ok? Did he hit you?"

"I'm fine." Barry groaned. "Guys-"

Farooq raised his arm and Caitlin pressed herself closer to Barry. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, no please!"

"Hey!" The noise rang out like a gunshot and Farooq turned to face Harrison Wells. "You're here for me."

"Finally, you show your face." Farooq murmured, lowering his arms and turning away from the trio huddled on the floor.

"Well, I wasn't exactly eager to be killed."

"Neither were my friends!"

"I know." Wells admitted. "I hurt a lot of people that night."

"People?!" Farooq yelled. "You don't even know their names!"

"Jake Davenport." That pulled him up short. "Daria Kim. Ralph Dimney. Al Rostine. Grant Everson. Will Everret. Thea Decosta." Harrison turned his gaze to Caitlin. "Ronnie Raymond."

She felt Barry's hand slip into her own and squeeze. Wells continued. "I know that names of every person who died that night and I know they all mattered. And the fact that the world is now deprived of their potential is something that I have to live with everyday, but these people!" He glanced at Barry, Caitlin and Cisco. "These people have done nothing wrong. "You want to punish me, fine, let's do that. But let these people live."

What followed his speech was one of the tensest pauses that Caitlin had ever experienced. She could hear her blood pounding in her ears, and her entire body was shaking. "You died that night, too." Farooq finally said, and blasted Dr. Wells out of his chair.

"NOO!" Barry screamed, and Caitlin buried her face in his shoulder, so scared she couldn't even cry out.

"You just didn't know it 'till today." Farooq took another step towards Wells, and Barry felt an electric tingle shoot through his body.

Before anyone could register what was happened, Barry was in his Flash suit and dragging Wells away from the blast from Farooq's hands.

Caitlin blinked as Harrison appeared beside them. Barry whizzed off again, and stopped in front of Farooq, who was looking around in confusion. He dodged the first few shots, but was finally caught was Farooq's electricity. Caitlin held her breath as Barry yelled in pain.

Farooq poured all of his electrical power into Barry, but then the lightning began to turn yellow. Both of them fell to their knees. But then the lightning stopped, and Farooq fell to the ground, dead. It was over.

* * *

Iris and Joe had been taken care of (though Caitlin heard later that Iris had saved the day without her "Streak"), and now Cisco, Caitlin, Harrison and Barry were all in the Particle Accelerator. "Why did he just syphon all my power again?" Barry asked.

Caitlin smiled, knowing that he was going to, and having a very good answer to give him. "Because," She took the tablet from Cisco, "You finally stopped thinking about your powers and just connected with them." Barry didn't seem to understand, so she showed him the screen. "Look. This is a sample of your blood from just after you were struck by lightning. Now, your cells are generating more energy then ever before. It was more energy then the meta could safely handle. It was almost like he choked on you."

"What does that mean?" Cisco asked.

"That means you kicked it up a notch." Wells told Barry with a smile.

Barry started to grin. Wells and Cisco walked (or rolled) out of the Particle Accelerator, leaving Caitlin and Barry alone. She smiled at him. "See? You still saved the day."

He laughed. "And I got the girl, too."

Caitlin bit her lip, happiness washing over her. She was his girl now. Barry leaned down and gently kissed her. There was less passion in this kiss, but just as much emotion. She gently pulled away. "Yes. Yes you did."

 **Author's Note: Was this the longest yet? I don't know... If not it was close. GUYS! I NEED REVIEWS! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED! NOW REVIEW SOME MORE! MAYBE I'LL UPDATE ON SUNDAY INSTEAD OF MONDAY! Wow, I need to take this off caps locks :)**


	9. 1x09

**Author's Note: You may be wondering: What happened to 1x08? To tell you the truth, I decided not to do it. For one, the only real interaction that Barry and Caitlin have is when he tells her to stop treating him like Ronnie. For two, that episode made me sad :( Not fun to turn evil. So we're going to go on to 1x09 instead.**

Barry came rushing into S.T.A.R. Labs with a grin on his face, singing jingle bells, and holding a red canister. "What's that?" Caitlin asked, giving him a smile.

"This is compliments of Iris." Barry beamed. "Grandma Ester's famous eggnog."

"Yum." Cisco commented from his desk.

"Oh, and guys, Joe always has this Christmas Party at his house on Christmas Eve, and he lets Iris and me invite anyone we want. You guys wanna come?" Barry added, sending a pleading glance to all three of them.

Cisco and Caitlin nodded eagerly, and Caitlin felt a flutter of excitement in the pit of her stomach at the idea of her first Christmas with Barry. But Dr. Wells shook his head, his normal warm voice devoid of all feeling. "I think I'll pass, Mr. Allen. But thank you for the offer."

He wheeled out of the room and Barry turned to her with a crushed expression. "Did I say something wrong?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No."

"No, man." Cisco agreed. "It's always hard for him at this time of year."

"I'm going to get him a present." Caitlin decided. "To cheer him up."

"Speaking of presents!" Barry exclaimed. He handed Caitlin and Cisco similar containers to the one he was carrying, but smaller and silver. "These are for you. If you like this, then you should definitely come to the party."

Cisco grabbed his with a thank you and a beaming grin, and skipped off to his lab. Looking both ways, Barry quickly leaned down and pressed his lips to Caitlin's. "I have something special for you later." He told her.

"Me too." Caitlin agreed. They had decided not to tell anyone about their relationship just yet. Things weren't super serious; only a few dates so far, and they knew that Cisco would tease them relentlessly. Either that or things would become so uncomfortable with him that it would ruin their team. Caitlin thought it might be difficult to have his two best friends dating, and him not to have anyone.

"See you soon?" Barry asked hopefully.

Caitlin nodded. "Yeah. And thank you for this, by the way." She gave him one last smile and strode out of S.T.A.R. Labs.

When she arrived at the parking lot, she caught a glimpse of a man lurking in the shadows. Caitlin's breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be.

Caitlin walked hurriedly around the corner, following the young man. When he turned around... she honestly wished that he hadn't. It was Ronnie. Her brother.

She took a step foreword, but, suddenly, he burst into flames. Caitlin stumbled back with a shriek and ran back towards her car. No. No no no no no no. This couldn't be happening. He was alive, but he wasn't _him_ anymore.

Caitlin couldn't breathe. She leaned against the wall, shaking, and willing her heart rate to steady. This couldn't be happening. Ronnie was alive.

* * *

Barry was in his lab, looking out the window, when he saw a man dressed all in yellow. He was standing on a rooftop, and looking straight at Barry.

In seconds Barry and the man in yellow were were standing in front of each other. The man was vibrating his face, so Barry couldn't see who was under the mask. His voice caught as he tried to speak. "It was you. You were the one in my house that night." His voice rose, shaking with anger. "You killed my mother. _WHY?!_ "

"If you want to know that." The man in yellow said, his voice vibrating as much as the rest of him. "You're going to have to catch me."

They both whizzed off. Barry ran faster then he had ever run before, but the man in yellow always stayed just ahead of him. Finally, he stopped in an abandoned football stadium.

The man in yellow stopped running too, and faced Barry. Barry's mind was racing and his heart was pounding, but he waited a few tense seconds before attacking.

The two speedsters ran at each other, and Barry found himself thrown violently to the ground. "Not fast enough, Flash." The man in yellow mocked.

Barry was up again, and the two of them raced around the stands, throwing punches and trying to stop the other. Barry, once again, ended up on his back in the grass of the field. The yellow speedster stopped in front of him, kicking him in the ribs.

"Who are you?!" Barry yelled.

"You know who I am, Barry." He growled. Barry flew at him again, but the man in yellow was faster, always a millisecond ahead, punching and kicking him. Finally, Barry fell to the ground again, angry and in pain.

"I don't know who you are."

"You do Barry. We've been at this a long time. But I'm always one step ahead."

Barry lunged, fist extended, only to get thrown to the ground for what seemed like the 20th time. "It is your destiny to lose to me, Flash." The man in yellow told him. "Just as it was your mothers destiny.. to die that night."

Rage filled him, but his nemesis was gone before he could stand. Barry lay back on the grass, panting, and wiped some blood from his face. He didn't stop him. Again.

* * *

The next morning, Barry stumbled back into S.T.A.R. Labs. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was pale and drawn. Caitlin ran up to him. "Are you ok?"

He was so consumed by his own misery that he didn't notice the haunted look in her own eyes. He just shook his head.

When they other arrived, Barry filled them in on what had happened. Caitlin looked horrified, but there was nothing she could do while the other were in the room. Dr. Wells was insistent then they had to stick to their plan of luring the Reverse Flash in using the tachyon prototype.

When they others had left, Caitlin lingered casually by her computer, trying to get Barry alone. When they finally were she approached him with a hug. "You ok?"

He shrugged, and folded into her arms. "I finally get a chance to fight my mom's murderer... and he wins. He always wins, Caitlin!" Barry took a shuddering breath, trying not to cry.

Caitlin rubbed his back, gently walking him over to a bed so he could sit down. Barry got the first good look at her face. "Hey.. are _you_ ok?"

Knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to keep anything from him, Caitlin sighed. "I've just been.. missing Ronnie more then usual lately." She felt bad not telling him all of it, but she wanted to make sure he was actually alive before she went and told everyone what she had seen.

Barry rubbed her knee and she leaned against him. "I know what you mean." He murmured.

"We have quite the life, don't we, Barry?" Caitlin whispered, tucking her head up under his neck as he put his arms around her.

"You make it better." Barry whispered in her ear. "Thank you."

* * *

There plan had worked, which in itself seemed a little bit... off to Caitlin. The man in yellow was trapped in Cisco force field. Joe, Dr. Wells, Eddie, and a few members of the CCPD's swat team were all standing around him, and Cisco and Caitlin were in the Cortex. Barry had been told to stay home and keep Iris out of the way, though Caitlin knew that it was really because they couldn't let his emotions take the better of him and ruin their trap.

Caitlin's spine kept prickling though. Something was wrong about this. The Reverse Flash was barely even attempting to get out of his force-field cage, which in itself was unusual. Not quite able to figure it out, Caitlin kept her phone in her hand, ready to text Barry at the first sign of trouble.

"Cisco!" Wells yelled. "Lights."

"Sure thing Dr. Wells." Cisco agreed. Caitlin saw lights powering on in the trap through her computer feed.

"Detective Thawn?" Wells asked Eddie, "Would you like to read him his rights?"

Joe stepped foreword, though. "Joe what're you doing?" Cried Eddie, and Caitlin could see his hands shaking as he held up his gun.

"Getting some answers." Joe murmured. "14 years ago, you murdered Nora Allen. I wanna know why."

Nora's killer stared back at Joe out of his vibrating face. When he spoke, his voice was low and untraceable. "Dr. Wells." He growled. "We meet at last."

Wells wheelchair rolled closer to the force-field, and Caitlin's heart rate speed up. When he spoke his voice was calm. "What do you want with the Tachyon particles?"

"My goals are beyond your understanding."

"Oh, I don't know." Dr. Wells murmured. "I'm a pretty smart guy. I know your are exceptionally fast, so any trap we manufactured had to be invisible. I knew your cells could repair themselves, at _extraordinary_ speeds, so you could withstand the damage this is doing to your body right now."

Cisco suddenly tensed beside her. "The super-compositors. The field is fluctuating. They need to get out of there, _now_."

Wells ignored the warning. "And the reason I know all this is because your powers are almost exactly like those of the Flash."

"Oh, I'm not like the Flash at all." he murmured. "Some would say I'm the reverse."

Up in the Cortex, all the screens burst into static. Caitlin yelled into the com with barely controlled panic. "Dr. Wells, evacuate. Get out of there _now._ Dr. Wells!"

They couldn't see anything. Then Joe's voice yelled, "Cisco! Turn off the barrier!"

"If I turn it off that thing's gonna get out." Cisco exclaimed.

"Cisco, he's going to kill Wells!" Joe bellowed.

Caitlin grabbed her phone from the table and typed a quick message to Barry. "S.O.S."

Back at his lab, Barry's phone buzzed. His heart dropped into his stomach when he saw in was an S.O.S. from "Dr. Snow :)". In seconds he was out of his lab and at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Caitlin and Cisco ran outside in time to see Barry attack the man in yellow. They spiraled up into the sky, before landing with a crash on the windshield of a car. Barry moaned, trying to get up.

The man in yellow turned his back on the Flash, instead facing Caitlin and Cisco, both huddled behind a pillar. Barry ran to him with a yell, but was once again thrown to the ground.

Nora's Killer nocked him down again and again, until he finally grasped Barry's head in his hands. Caitlin could contain herself, "Barry-" She croaked.

The man in yellow ripped Barry's mask off, before punching him on more time in the face. Barry collapsed on the ground.

Out of nowhere, a burst of flame slammed into the man in yellow. Caitlin's heart leaped as she saw her brother ( **A.N: I'm just reminding you, because I had some confusion. In this story, Ronnie is her brother, not her fiancé)** , or what remained of him. Barry lifted his head in surprise.

The man in yellow stood. "Our race is not yet done. See you soon, Flash." Then he had whizzed off into the night.

Cisco helped Barry up as Caitlin ran to Ronnie. He looked at her sadly. "Don't look for me again." Then his hands ignited, and he flew off into the air.

Caitlin watched him go for a moment, and then she remembered Barry. "Oh my gosh, are you alright?" She ran over to him, but he nodded.

Caitlin relaxed, and the three of them stumbled back into S.T.A.R. Labs.

* * *

Caitlin wasn't sure what to wear. Yes, she knew that there would be other people at Joe's Christmas Eve party, but she still wanted to look nice. She quickly glanced through her closet once again. There, way in the back, was a simple gray dress she hadn't seen the first time. Caitlin grabbed it and held it up to herself. Perfect.

After re-curling her hair (she didn't have time to do anything else), she touched up her makeup and grabbed her keys. When she arrived at the West's house, she found Cisco waiting outside. He wrinkled his nose. "I wasn't sure if anyone was here, so I was waiting for someone to arrive."

"Did you knock?" Caitlin asked.

"No..." She sighed, but was smiling as she raised her fist to knock.

Iris came to the door. "Oh, hey guys! Dad and Bar are going to be a little late, but come on it. Eddie's here, too." She led the way inside, and Caitlin perched herself on the couch. Iris settled back in Eddie's lap (they really took PDA to a whole other level), and Cisco sat down next to her.

They sat in silence for awhile, before Caitlin began a conversation about work, and then Barry and Joe were arriving. Caitlin stood up, giving Barry a smile, and he grinned back. His eyes had looked empty when he entered, but when they saw her, they got the light back in the green orbs that she knew and loved.

"Where's Dr. Wells?" Joe asked.

"He, uh, wasn't feeling up to a social gathering, but he appreciated the invitation. Eggnog?"

"Yes." Joe responded vehemently, and Caitlin poured him a glass. Barry sat down on her other side, and Caitlin wished a whole lot at that moment that the others knew about them, because she really wanted to curl up next to him.

She resisted, however, and took a gulp of her eggnog. She would find a time later and they could have their Christmas cuddle. And exchange gifts. Caitlin was very excited to see what Barry had for her, almost as excited to give him what _she_ had.

Joe bounded to his feet, wiping away an eggnog mustache. "Time to light up the tree!" He rummaged through a box and pulled out the angles, stretching to place it on top of their pine.

"Iris... would you do the honers?" Iris leapt up from Eddie's lap and ran over to the plug. The tree lit up like an ember touching dry tinder. Caitlin clapped with the rest of them, and rested her head on Barry's shoulder for a split second. Then Joe turned around, and everything turned into a haze of Christmas music and alcoholic eggnog.

Later that evening, when Iris was once again curled, catlike, in Eddie's lap, and Cisco and Joe were slouched on the couch watching re-runs of some so or another, Caitlin dragged Barry into the kitchen.

"What, what?" He asked, laughing.

"I just really wanted to kiss you." Caitlin grinned and pushed him against the counter. His mouth was on hers in a moment, and Caitlin got the kiss she had been dreaming about, her hands in his hair, and his hands just about _everywhere_ , and there mouths molding together so you couldn't see where one stopped and the other started.

Joe walked into the kitchen, and Barry was more glad for his speed then he had ever been. He pulled away from Caitlin, straightened her hair and clothes, then straightened his own. He gently placed her against the counter a few feet away, and got them both glasses of water. Then everything went back to normal.

Caitlin jumped and sent Barry a _What the heck?!_ look. Barry bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Hey, Joe."

"What are you two up to?" Joe asked suspiciously, looking up in surprise.

"Oh, Caitlin just wanted water, so I came to keep her company. I didn't really feel like watching.. whatever you guys were watching." Barry was very pleased with himself at coming up with such a successful and believable lie.

Joe seemed convinced enough, and he smiled at Caitlin as he reached into the fridge for a beer. "I love eggnog, but there's nothing that hits the spot more then some good old fashioned brew." He explained, before trundling back out of the kitchen.

Caitlin glanced at Barry with a raised eyebrow, and he burst out laughing. "Your face- Cait- oh my gosh.."

Caitlin shivered in delight at the use of her nickname. Only her brother had ever called her that. And the way Barry said it was.. very different. And it gave her a very different feeling inside. She grabbed Barry shirt and kissed him again. That shut him up quite well.

When they walked back into the living room, Cisco was passed out on the couch, and Iris, too, had her eyes closed. Eddie kissed her forehead and smiled at Joe. "I should probably take her home. Thank you for having me."

"No problem." Joe said with a smile, patting Eddie on the shoulder as he woke up Iris. The two of them gave hugs all around, and then they had walked down the path.

Caitlin herself didn't really want to leave yet, but she didn't want to invite herself. "I don't want to intrude on you anymore." She smiled.

Barry looked disappointed. Joe laughed. "There are no intrusions in this house. Lets all take a moment and remember that my 25 year old kid _still_ lives here."

"Joe!" Barry cried, flushing almost as red as his suit.

"Wha-?" Cisco snorted, waking up at the exclamation, and everyone started to laugh.

Cisco left soon after that, and then it was just the three of them. Joe yawned. "Alright, you two. I'm going to turn in. Thank you for coming Caitlin."

She smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you for having me. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Joe repeated, and as he went up the stairs he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Barry and nodded toward Caitlin.

Barry's eyes widened. "Do you get the feeling that he... knows about us?"

The couch dipped as Caitlin sat down next to her boyfriend and snuggled up to his side. "I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me, though. He _is_ and detective... and you're his son."

Shrugging, Barry slung his arm around her shoulders. "Hey, Cait." He whispered.

"Yeah, Barry?"

"You wanna exchange gifts?"

She giggled. "Sure, I just need to get mine. Good thing I brought it." She grabbed her purse from the coat rack next to the door, and Barry flashed up and down the stairs, returning with a small box.

"You first." Barry invited. Caitlin smiled as she took the box. She shook it, and squinted it it. "Open it!" Barry cried in exasperation. She laughed, and ripped off the paper eagerly.

Inside was a pin. It was covered in crystals, and shaped like a snowflake. "Oh my gosh, Barry, it's so beautiful!"

"And useful." Barry told her, turning the pin around. "It has a com hidden inside, in case you ever need to contact me and you don't have the right supplies."

"Thank you!" Caitlin breathed, kissing him quickly on the lips. "You're turn."

Barry took the box and undid the bow with one pull. He opened it to find a red tie, the same color as his flash suit. He grinned. "I love it."

"Turn it around." Caitlin urged. Barry did as he was told, and found a small pocket in the back. Inside was a small vial.

"What is it?"

Caitlin started to grin. "I told you that I would get you drunk, Mr. Allen. There you have the Snow-Serum 2.0."

"The.. Snow-Serum?" Barry smirked.

She swatted his shoulder. "I'm working on it. Try it out!"

The glass tipped back and Barry gulped it down. He blinked. "Whoa." He giggled. "It worked. Real well."

Caitlin bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I think that I just got you drunk, Mr. Allen."

"Yup." Barry closed his eyes and passed out.

Caitlin stared at him in shock. "Uh.. Barry?"

The next second his was awake again, and no longer drunk. "Well.. I guess I'll keep trying." Caitlin sighed. "Merry Christmas anyway, Barry."

"Merry Christmas, Caitlin."

 **Author's Note: Wow! That was _really_ fun to write. Do you think that Joe knows? Also… This is past the 3,000 word goal that I set for ****myself! I think that deserves some Reviews (hint hint).**


	10. 1x10

**Author's Note: Hello all my Snowbarry Fans! Everyone ready for this amazing episode? Staring: Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Caitlin being kidnapped, and a PLOT TWIST! Enjoy!**

"That was too close." Caitlin lectured Cisco. They were all standing in Barry's training area, and Cisco was shooting his drones at Barry.

"Hey, he said to make it hard." Cisco protested.

"Yeah, but what he didn't say was to make him dead."

Cisco shrugged. Barry yelled into the mic. "I'm good. Cisco, bring it!"

"Bring it?" Cisco asked.

"Bring it." Wells repeated with a smile. Caitlin's lips pinched together unhappily, but she raised her binoculars to get a better look at what was going on.

Cisco pressed a few buttons on his tablet controller, and a large, black missile shot out towards Barry. He ran, dodging and sliding on the pavement, but Cisco's missal exploded and sent him tumbling to the ground.

The binoculars fell to her side and Caitlin glanced at Cisco, her eyes making her feelings very clear. He gulped. "I'm good, guys!" Barry yelled into the com. "Send me another one, Cisco!"

The tablet bleeped as Cisco shrugged and pressed another button. A large missile flew towards Barry, but instead of running, he turned to face it. "Why isn't he running away?" Caitlin asked the group at large. "Barry, run away." She pleaded, even though he couldn't hear her.

She raised her binoculars, and peered through them. When the missal was seconds away from hitting Barry, he grabbed it and swung it around. Cisco's droid went up in flames.

Barry flashed back to the group, and wiggled his eyebrows and Caitlin. She rolled her eyes in his direction, blushing. "Dude, you just caught a missal!" Cisco cried. "Since when can you catch missals?"

"Since today." Barry grinned. "Got anything else."

"Well... two more of those, and some Daga lasers."

"No!" Both Caitlin and Dr. Wells yelled.

* * *

Caitlin was on her computer, scouring the internet for signs of Firestorm. That was what Ronnie -or what was left of Ronnie-, had called himself. Caitlin knew he had said not to look for him... but how could she not?

"Hey." Barry's voice startled her so much that she actually shrieked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's ok, I was just kinda focused."

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Gotcha. What's Firestorm?"

They had talked a little about Ronnie coming back to life. Barry had been slightly upset that she hadn't told him when she found out, but once he heard her reasons he understood, knowing he would have done the exact same thing.

"It's one of the last things Ronnie said to me before he..." She paused, then shrugged. "Flew away." Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "My dead brother can fly. That's not weird or anything." She was expecting a laugh, or a least a smile from Barry, but there was nothing. Now that she though about it, she realized that he hand't seemed himself in awhile. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just... I can't believe that the Man in Yellow is actually back." ( **A.N: Ok, no, he doesn't say that. He talks about how he told Iris how he felt about her... but that doesn't particularly work with my story line so...** )

He leaned against her desk, watching her fiddle with her fingers. "I know that we're going to catch him, Barry. That _you're_ going to catch him."

"Even if I do..." Barry grit his teeth. "It's not going to bring my mother back to life. Nothing can, now."

Caitlin got up and brushed his cheek with her fingertips. "I know that it's... hard. But if you just think about how much happier she is now, it makes things better. That's what I used to do whenever I would really miss Ronnie. I would sit in my room, and think about everything he was doing in.. where ever he is. Who knows? Maybe, if Ronnie _did_ die at some point, he met your mother. Maybe they were watching us when you came into the lab, and when you woke up. And when you became the Flash."

Barry smiled. "My mom would have liked you."

"And Ronnie would have liked you." Caitlin agreed. "Whenever you need to talk, Barry, I'm here for you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah." He leaned down and kissed her gently, then turned to leave the room. Halfway out, he stopped." Hey... I just thought of something. What if Firestorm..-"

She finished his sentence ( **A.N: The thing is, they actually do that :** ). "What if Firestorm isn't a word, it's an acronym." Her fingers flew across the keypad. "Fusion Ignition Research Experiment and Science of Transmutation Originating RNA and Molecular Structures." Barry raised an eyebrow. "It's... 800 pages." Caitlin hinted, sending her best puppy dog eyes to look up at him.

And how could Barry say no to that? He cleared his throat and leaned over the screen. Words and pages flashed across it at super speed, and Barry's eyes flicked back and forth until they were a blur. A second later his blinked and stood up.

Caitlin tilted her head questioningly. "There's a lot of stuff in there, but it mostly focuses on Trans-Mutation, which is the process of altering the structure of an element but unzipping the elements-"

"And recreating it to make an entirely new element." Caitlin completed with a frown.

Barry nodded. "The article was co-written by Jason Rush, who's a grad student here, at Hudson University. So if anyone who knows what happened to Ronnie.."

"Maybe he does." Caitlin breathed hopefully. He smiled at the way her grey-blue eyes lit up. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Barry kissed her on the lips and strode out of the room.

Caitlin picked up her purse. It was time to visit Jason.

* * *

Later that day, Barry, Cisco and Wells were all in the Cortex talking. Barry was telling them about Caitlin's break through with Jason. His phone buzzed and he held it up to his ear.

The smile on his face immediately faded, and he flashed off, leaving Cisco and Wells to wonder what the heck had just happened.

Barry ran to the crime scene, his heart pounding so hard he could barely breath. The only thing he could think of was _It couldn't be her car. It has to be someone else's. Not Caitlin._ "Joe!" He called, running to meet his step-father. "Anything?"

"There's no sign of Caitlin." Joe said worriedly, watching Barry's face grow pale as he saw the ice covering the side of her car.

Barry ran his fingers through his hair. He strode over to Joe, a hard light in his eyes. "We're getting her back. We have to find Snart."

"Darn right we do." Joe agreed. "Come on, let's go."

Barry followed Joe to his car, even though he could have flashed to the CCPD in seconds. His legs felt like jello, the same way they had when he had gotten electrocuted. Except this time, there would be no Dr. Snow to patch him up. That dug deep.

After an agonizingly long car ride, they arrived at the Police Department. Eddie ran down the stairs calling, "Joe! Joe! Oh, Allen, thank goodness." He placed a hand on Barry's shoulder staring with concern into his face. "You've probably already heard. Man, I'm so sorry."

Barry averted his gaze. The way Eddie was talking made it sound like Caitlin was already dead.

Captain Singh strode out of his office. "Turn on the T.V. It's on every station." He pressed the power button and the television in front of them flickered to life. Barry crossed his arms, trying to control his heart rate.

"Greetings citizens of Central City. I am Leonard Snart, but you can call me Cold." Barry could barely hear him. In the back of the corner, Caitlin was struggling against Mick, Snart's partner. His heart in his throat, he clenched his fists.

Snart continued. "I'm gonna make this very simple for everyone. He's real. He calls himself..." Snart laughed. "The Flash. Porter and Main. Tonight. Sundown. Or this woman dies."

Barry stared at Caitlin. She was alive... for now. She pulled against Mick. "No, don't come for me. Stay away!" She screamed, and then Snart ended the feed.

Barry's legs had that jello-y feeling again. Joe placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Caitlin... his Caitlin. How had he let this happen? What if they hurt her? What if... they killed her?

He knew what everyone would say. Dr. Wells would tell him not to go. Cisco would tell him to get his butt over there and save his best friend. Joe would encourage Barry to make his own decision.

There wasn't a decision to make. He was going to save Caitlin.

* * *

Right now, Caitlin wasn't feeling fantastic. She was roped to a chair, and -what was his name? Mick?- was breathing down her neck. "Your friend. He's fast." Mick commented. He pulled out a lighter and held it up to her face. "Like fire."

Caitlin glanced at his arms. "You have a lot of burns. You should get them fixed."

"No no." Mick shook his head. "The fire revealed my true self. Showed me what I really am. I wonder what the Flash will reveal... when I burn all his skin off."

Protective fury rose in Caitlin like a wave of heat. She leaned towards Mick and growled. "Do whatever you want to me. But leave. Him. Alone."

Mick backed off a bit. "Ok." He grinned. "You and this Flash must be really close if you're willing to die for him."

He had no idea.

* * *

Barry stood in the Cortex, pacing a hole in the floor. Then his phone buzzed. "Alright." Joe spoke into his ear. "You're on."

In seconds he was in his suit and at the place were Caitlin was being held. He broke through the police tape and came to a stop. The entire police force stopped and stared. He looked back silently.

A voice broke through the tension. "The scarlet speedster!" Cold yelled. He approached Barry, gun drawn, Mick at his side. "Any preference on how you'd like to die? The flame? Or the frost?"

Barry took a deep breath, hoping against hope that Cisco and Joe's rescue plan was working. He, of course, had wanted to be the one to save Caitlin, but they had convinced him that he was the only one who could fight against Central City's worst non-meta menaces.

Focusing on the task at hand, Barry walked towards Snart. He raised his gun. "Not in the mood for chit-chat; gotcha. Ready when you are." He and Mick both powered up their guns.

Barry moved so quickly the malefactors weren't expecting it. He whizzed around the two of them, and they fired their guns. Snart ran to a car, "Cover me!" He yelled at his partner. Mick blasted flame unto the air.

Snart hit a fire hydrant with his gun, and the water shot into the air, freezing immediately. Barry didn't have time to slow down. He crashed into the ice, rolling to safety behind a car. _So cold_.

"Barry." Wells spoke in his ear. "Barry are you ok?"

"Yeah!" Barry yelled back, shivering. He thought of Caitlin, hopefully getting rescued, and a new strength filled him. "I need to cross their beam or I can't take their guns out. I know."

The car he was leaning on exploded, and Barry heard Mick triumphant cry. He sped off, avoiding the beam of Mick's gun. "This!" He panted into his com. "Is not as easy as it sounds."

He flashed off again, and up a building, the beams of the both the guns following him. Barry leapt down from the apartment, landing in a crouch, and Snart shot him.

Blood pounded in his ears as he tumbled a few feet backward. He lay on the pavement, groaning in pain, and froze ( **A.N: No pun intended :** ), at the sound of Snart's gun firing up again. This was it. He just hoped that Joe and Cisco had gotten to Caitlin in time.

Much to his surprise, he didn't get frozen to death. Eddie threw himself to his knees, holding up a Cisco-made shield to block the wave of ice and fire that rained down on them. "Go go go!" Eddie bellowed, and Barry flashed them both away.

Barry stood in the middle of the street, panting. "I can't get them to cross streams. Speed isn't getting it done."

"You're right." Wells agreed. "Maybe speed isn't the way to do it."

"I'll go slower." Barry murmured, realization dawning.

Wells thought the same thing. "Yes."

"Ok." Barry took a few deep breaths, preparing himself for what was sure to be a whole lot of pain. Then he flashed to the spot in between both Snart and Mick. They fired their guns up, and he was hit but two streams of agony.

On his left side, he could feel his suit burning away, melting off of him and leaving his skin exposed. On his right, he was turning to ice. He fell to his knees.

But his plan worked. The guns started to overload each other, and Mick and Snart were blown backward by their own weapons. Snart scrambled toward his gun, but Barry struggled to his feet and laid a foot on it. "Ha." Snart began to laugh. "I didn't see that one coming. I guess you win this time."

"There won't _be_ a next time." Barry growled. Eddie came up behind him, leveling his gun at Snart. "Thank you detective." Barry said, vibrating his voice so that Eddie wouldn't recognize it. Eddie nodded. Then Barry whizzed off.

* * *

When he got back to S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin was nowhere to be seen. He looked frantically around. "Cisco!" He shouted at his friend. "Where is she?! Where is Caitlin?!"

"Dude!" Cried Cisco, startled. "She's at the CCPD. Calm down, she's fine."

As soon as Barry managed to get his suit off (which took longer then he would have wanted), he was away again.

Cisco rolled his eyes and threw himself in a chair. "Not even a thank you."

Barry arrived a few feet away from the police station, and ran up the steps. He burst into the building, and there she was. Eddie was talking gently with her, and she had a shock blanket over her shoulders. All he wanted was to wrap her up in his arms and tell her everything was going to be ok.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Joe. "Barry.. I know. I know."

"How-?" Barry questioned, though in truth, he was relieved.

"You guys aren't exactly very secretive." Joe smiled. "Remember Christmas?"

Barry winced. "Yeah..."

"We can talk later." Joe assured him. "She needs you right now."

"How- how is she?" Barry asked nervously. Now that he was actually seeing her, he was scared. Like, what if this was all a dream, and when he touched her, he would wake up and find out that... that she was dead?

"She's in shock." Joe sighed. "She's held it together very well, and answered all of her questions, but she cracking. Go to her, Barry."

He walked over slowly, and touched her shoulder. She turned and bit her lip. "Barry-"

Then she was in his arms, smelling like pine and Caitlin, and he nearly started to cry. He held it together though, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

She did start to cry, sobs muffled in his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She choked. "I can't-"

"Shhh..." He interrupted, running his fingers through her hair in what he hoped was a soothing way. "You were so strong. My Caitlin. You're ok. I got you. I got you." She clutched to him like a life line, crying until she was exhausted. Barry wrapped his arms around her and let her lean against him.

He turned to Joe. "I'll take her home."

"Go ahead. We can talk to her more when she's in a... better state." He gave Caitlin a quick hug, then Barry took her outside.

She shivered at the feeling of the air (she only had on a thick strapped tank top), so Barry took of his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. She sighed at the feeling of its heavy warmth, and at the smell of Barry that surrounded her.

When they got out of sight from people, Barry picked her up and flashed tiredly off. When he got to her apartment, he stopped. He realized he had never been to her house before. Of course, with his life, this was the way it would happen.

Caitlin changed into pajamas in the bathroom and then curled up under her covers. Barry tucked the blanket around her shoulders, marveling at how small she seemed without her high heels and attitude with her.

She smiled at him, the rings under her eyes very evident against her pale face, and Barry ran his fingers through her hair. It was so soft, and he liked how real it felt against his hand. It proved to him that this wasn't dream. She was real, and this was real, and she was ok.

Caitlin closed her eyes as he stoked her hair. He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. "You get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Ok.." Caitlin murmured. She dropped off almost immediately, and Barry quietly left the room, flicking off the light.

His heart rate had returned to normal, finally. Caitlin was fine, and he was going to see her at the labs tomorrow.

Suddenly, Barry laughed. What was he going to say to Joe? _Nothing. He gets it._ He wondered when they would tell the rest of their friends. He still wasn't sure quite _why_ they were keeping it a secret. Right now, it was just easier.

They would find out at some point, though. And Barry was ok with that. As long as he had his Caitlin with him, they were going to fight metas and save the world, and be in love..

Wait. In love?

 **Author's Note: Whoa! I was actually expecting the plot twist to be Joe telling Barry he had found out.. but I guess my muse Juliette won the argument over Camille, and they decided to make the plot twist romantic. I had no control over that, guys. It totally wrote itself.**

 **Tell me what you think, and also who you think is going to find out next, and when.**


	11. 1x11

**Author's Note: Hello guys! I hope you all had a good weekend. I'm about to make it better with this story (not to toot my own horn or anything.. :)**

"3, 2, 1." Barry counted, before letting go of the phone flashing over to his friends. He snuck in between Wells and Caitlin, sliding a hand around her waist. Then he whizzed back over to the phone and caught it before it fell.

"Yes!" Barry cried, grinning.

"Does that count as a selfy?" Caitlin asked curiously. She had recently discovered the selfy button (much to Cisco alarm. How did his best friend not know how to take a selfy?), and had been taking an awful lot of them. Barry thought it was kind of cute.

"Totally." He nodded, handing of the phone to Cisco.

"Sweet!" Cisco cried, peering at the picture.

Caitlin huddled over his shoulder. "My hair's all messed up." She complained.

"You look fine." Cisco groaned.

"Yeah." Barry smiled. "You do." There was silence in the Cortex for a moment. Caitlin looked away. "Thanks." She blushed. "How about I get all of us coffee?" She ran out of the room before anyone could answer.

The sound of squeaking sneakers filled the room as Cisco turned on his toe. "Alright. What was that?"

"What was what?" Barry asked innocently.

"What was that... _look_ that you gave her? With those moony eyes?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Barry denied, with a calmness that Dr. Wells would be proud off.

 **FLASH!**

Barry was at Wells' house for the first time. It was... huge. Like, huger then huge. Right now he was waiting for Cisco and Caitlin to arrive, and watching the police investigate the crime scene.

Because Dr. Wells' house was now also a crime scene. Someone had smashed the glass of his sun roof (his _huge_ sunroof). Thankfully Harrison hadn't been hurt.

"This place is _sweet_." Cisco breathed, coming in with Caitlin.

He was relieved to see both of them. Ever since Caitlin had been kidnapped by Snart, he had been on high alert, expecting at any second to get a call that one of them had been kidnapped. "What took you guys so long?"

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged one of those significant glances that all best friends seem to have mastered. "We got lost." Cisco admitted.

"We've never been here before." Caitlin shrugged.

"Really, never?" Barry was shocked. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had never been invited over to his mentors mansion.

"He tends to keep his private life private." Caitlin told him.

Cisco walked off, still looking around in amazement, and Barry (after looking around quickly), kissed Caitlin. She grinned. "What was that for?"

"Well, I haven't kissed you yet today." He shrugged. "And I wanted to."

She lightly hit his shoulder. "You're ridiculous, Mr. Allen. So who do you think did this?"

"No idea." Barry shrugged. "But whoever tried to hurt Dr. Wells is going to hear from me."

 **FLASH!**

Once they had captured Hartley (Cisco was right, he really was something not worth repeating), Barry brought him back to S.T.A.R. Labs. He ignored his attempt at flirting, instead brought him into the main hallway.

Caitlin and Cisco were there to meet him. Hartley smirked. "Still a loser working at a lab that never had anything going for it, are we Cisco?" He noticed Caitlin next. "Caitlin.. never did get that new address of your brothers." Caitlin had the firmness not to look away.

Rage bubbled over in Barry's stomach. He shoved Hartley. "Shut the heck up."

"Stay in front of him." Cisco growled, just as upset.

Barry reached over and rubbed Caitlin's arm. "That was totally out of place for him to say that."

To his surprise, she didn't seem all that upset. "It's ok. As Cisco said, he's a jerk."

"You're amazing." Barry murmured, pulling her to his chest and kissing her firmly. She smiled against his lips, but gently pulled back. "We should go tell Dr. Wells that he's in the Pipeline."

"Yeah, definitely." Barry agreed, and took her hand as they walked back to the Cortex.

 **FLASH!**

Caitlin stood up, facing Dr. Wells with cold eyes after his confession of what had really happened the night the particle accelerator exploded. "Well the next time you decide to put our lives and the lives of the people we love at risk," Her voice got dangerously quiet. "I'll expect a heads up."

Cisco turned and followed her out of the doorway. Barry just shook his head at his childhood mentor, and went with them. He found Caitlin sitting with her back to the wall and her head in her hands. He approached her quietly. "Cait- I can't even guess what you're going through right now."

She looked up, eyes burning and tears running down her cheeks. "If he hadn't taken such a risk, Ronnie would still be alive, Barry! I would still have my brother and-" Her voice broke, and she calmed down a little. "And I guess I would never have met you."

Sitting down beside her, Barry pulled her into his arms. "I wish that all of this hadn't happened. But at the same time, Cait, I'm glad it did. Not because it was a good thing- it was in no way a good thing. But if I hadn't gotten my speed, I never would have met you. And if I never met you... well, my life wouldn't be as amazing as it is today."

Caitlin pressed her head into Barry's shoulder with a little sob. "Thank you, Barry. I-" She stopped, and instead simply curled herself into his arms more comfortably.

Barry understood though. He was going to say the exact same thing.

 **FLASH!**

Caitlin was working on her tablet when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned and didn't even have time to scream before Hartley punched her solidly across the face. She flew into a desk and was trying to blink spots out of her eyes when Hartley ran back out of the room, holding his gloves.

Before she blacked she text Barry. _Hartley escaped._ Then she fell sideways and passed out.

She was just waking up again when Barry appeared, still in normal clothes. He speed to her side and grasped her arm, helping her to sit up. "Oh my gosh, Caitlin! Are you ok?"

She nodded blearily, head pounding. "Yeah... Cisco and Dr. Wells..."

Before she could blink she was being gently placed in a chair. Barry kissed her forehead and sped off.

When he returned with, without any Hartley, much to her consternation, she began her checkup on Cisco. "You were lucky." She told him.

He sighed and looked up at Barry. "Please tell me you got him?"

Barry shook his head mutely. "I guess the attack on his families company was a fake out."

"It gave him direct access to S.T.A.R. Labs." Caitlin added solemnly.

"But why?" Barry breathed.

"He's up to something. This is all my fault."

"Why would it be your fault?" Barry asked, confused.

"Because I didn't scan him for hidden tech. He used his ear thing to blow up the cell and I didn't do anything. He could have hurt you guys-"

"Relax." Caitlin soothed, pushing down his shoulders. "I'm sure you did the best that you could. Now you get some rest, and heal that head of yours."

Cisco sank unto his pillows and was out in seconds. Wells rolled absentmindedly out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

With a sigh, Caitlin fell into a chair and leaned her aching head back against the side. Barry crouched beside her. "Hey, you iced that yet? You're starting to get a pretty nasty bruise."

She blinked at him. "I'm fine."

He flashed away and returned with an ice pack. "You patch me up every time, Dr. Snow. Now it's my turn." He gently pressed the icepack to the bruise on her forehead. She leaning into the soothing cold, and after a bit turned so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"You ok?" He murmured.

"I miss him a lot today. Especially knowing he's out there, but not being able to help him. And with everything that came to light..." She trailed off and shrugged. "It's just been a rough day."

"I get that." Barry agreed. "Do you want to come over tonight? We could watch a movie."

"That would be nice." Caitlin nodded, straightening up and taking the icepack off her head. "I'd like that."

 **FLASH!**

Once they figured out where Hartley was, Barry had gotten into his Flash suit and whizzed off. Caitlin was really starting to get frustrated with all the dramatic exits, but that was a conversation for another time.

"Barry, you need to disarm Hartley immediately. Immediately, do you hear me? He's a master of distraction. He's a master of hiding his two end game." Harrison called into the mic.

Right now all Barry could think of was that the Pied Piper looked like a master of the Force, what with his dark hooded cloak and everything. He almost smiled at the thought, but refocused when Hartley blasted 4 cars into the air with his gloves. Barry ran around them and took all the people inside out, setting them on the ground. Then he turned back to face Hartley.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco was having a revelation. "Aha! Uh oh..."

"Aha what?" Wells asked.

"I figured out what data Hartley stole from S.T.A.R. Labs. Why he let himself get caught."

"Which brings us to the uh oh." Caitlin prompted, heart pounding.

"He had all the data on Barry's molecular scans."

Caitlin still wasn't connecting the dots. "Why would he want that?"

Wells got it, though. "He can get Barry's frequency." He leaned foreword, voice rising in panic. "Barry you need to get out of there. You need to get out of there immediately!"

Barry didn't listen. He dodged Hartley's blasts, and grabbed the gloves, throwing them to the side. "It's over!" He yelled. "You lose."

To his surprise, the genius in front of him didn't seem that scared. "Amazing. You replaced me with you: Total moron. I got you with the same trick twice." Barry stared at him, uncomprehending.

Suddenly, and intense pain shot through Barry's head. Through his blurry vision, he saw Hartley's gloves begin to vibrate. He clutched his head, falling to his knees.

Caitlin was on her feet, staring in horror at Barry's rapidly falling vitals. "Barry's vitals are bottoming out. We need to do something!"

Harrison wheeled over, pushing Cisco out of the way. "Barry's on a bridge at rush hour, surrounded by cars. Many of those cars are going to have satellite radio. The satellite sends the signal to the car and the car-"

Caitlin shook her head. "Yes, I know how satellite radio works!" She yelled. "But how is that going to help Barry?"

"Well, I'm going to have the satellite send something different then a song. Hartley is about to hear something he's not expecting. A sound wave that will meet the frequency and destroy his weapons."

Back on the bridge, the sound stopped. Barry lay on the bridge, panting. Hartley ran over to his gloves as they exploded. He screamed as they hurt his hands, and fell to the bridge.

Caitlin's heart was thudding so loudly in her ears she could barely hear. She sank into a chair, legs shaking too much to hold her up anymore. Cisco breathed a sigh of relief, and Well's ran a hand through his hair. "Checkmate." He murmured. Then, "Barry, can you hear me?"

"Sorta!" Barry called back. Caitlin started to laugh.

 **FLASH!**

"How do you feel?" Caitlin asked, walking around her desk as Barry tromped into the Cortex.

"Fine!" He said loudly. "I mean, there is a little ringing in my ears but other then that I'm good."

Caitlin rested her hand on his arm, trying not to laugh. "You're speaking _very_ loudly."

"Sorry." Barry muttered sheepishly.

"It's ok, it'll pass." Caitlin smiled.

"Well done, Mr. Allen." Wells said. "You have trumped the chess master."

"I couldn't have done it without you." Barry responded seriously. "So thank you for that."

Wells nodded his head in acknowledgement. Then he wheeled put of the room. Cisco stood up. "Nice moves."

"Thank you." They clapped hands.

"Anytime." Cisco grinned, and looked at Caitlin. "I think I'm going to take my doctors advice and go lie down."

"What a great idea!" Caitlin chirped, and Cisco laughed. She followed him half outside the door, then turned to Barry. "Your house? 8:00?" She whispered. He nodded with a smile, and waved goodbye.

 **FLASH!**

8:00 arrived as slowly as mud, but finally Barry was opening up his door and letting in a comfortably dressed Caitlin. She had her hair in a messy ponytail, and was wearing _sweatpants_ , an unusual sight for her. She gave Barry a kiss. "Hey Flash. What're we watching?"

"I don't know." He felt a little stupid. "I honestly forgot to think of one."

She laughed at that. "I hope you at least have popcorn."

"Duh." He grinned, taking her hand and pulling her over to the couch. "How's your head?"

"It's fine." She curled up into his side. "How are you organs? No longer shredded?"

"Hopefully, no." He winced and looked down at his stomach.

"Well, maybe I should check, just in case." She teased, hands creeping up his shirt.

He grabbed her face and kissed her solidly on the mouth. When he spoke his voice was low and gravely. "You are more dangerous then I thought, Dr. Snow."

She giggled, and then Joe walked in. "Um..." He muttered awkwardly

Caitlin turned bright red and hopped to her feet. "Uh, hi Joe! I, um, didn't know that- well, it's your house I suppose, but-"

"Hey, you guys do whatever you want. I'll be upstairs." He grabbed a beer and ran up the steps faster then Caitlin had ever seen a man of his age go.

Barry laughed. "Alright. Let's watch a movie." He flashed off to grab the bowl of popcorn, and then rooted through the movie basket. "What do you want to watch?"

"Just as long as there are no metas in it, or flaming dead brothers, I'm good." Caitlin told him.

He sent her a smirk. "So picky." He closed his eyes and rooted through the basket. "National Treasure 2. Work for you?"

"Oh my gosh, I haven't watched that in so long!" Caitlin wrinkled her nose in the cutest of ways. "Isn't it, like, practically a re-make of the first one, but with a different bad guy, and a different treasure?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. But it's still good."

"Ok, let's do it." He sat down on the couch and she placed her head on his chest. Barry ran his fingers through her soft curls, smelling like sugar cookies and evergreen trees.

"Did you know that they're planning to make a third one?" He said softly as the opening scene started.

"No, I didn't." She giggled. "It's probably just going to be a repeat of the first two."

"Probably." He agreed.

They watched the movie, without _really_ watching it, speaking up during every other scene to criticize the actors and the plot. Even though they probably didn't retain on of the movie itself, it was still fun. Barry learned that Caitlin had a serious celebrity crush on Riley, and they discussed wether or not Riley should have a plus 1 in the next movie.

When the movie was over, they lay on the couch talking for a long time. Talking about the Flash, and sacrifices, and Dr. Wells, and Ronnie, and everything that fell in between.

By the time they actually got up to put the popcorn bowl away, Caitlin saw that it was 1:12 am. She raised her eyebrows. "I should probably head home. I actually have to get up tomorrow."

Barry laughed. "Yeah, probably a good idea." He kissed her on the nose, and she went to get her coat.

"Thank you, Barry. I had fun."

"Me too."

She turned and waved as she walked down the stairs, and he grinned at her disappearing back. Caitlin Snow was really something else.

 **Author's Note: Whew, that was a finger workout. I hope you all liked it! Sorry if it was a little choppier then usual. This wasn't a big snowbarry episode, but I suppose it's my job to make it be one :)**


	12. 1x12

**Author's Note: Time for my favorite Snowbarry (and maybe overall) Flash episode of all time! Karaoke night.. bring it** ** _on_** **!**

 **I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS!**

 _Sumer lovin' had me a blast. Summer lovin', happened so fast. I met a girl crazy for me. I met a boy, cute as could be._

Barry felt like he hadn't seen Caitlin all day. He knew it was weird, but he missed her. So he was very happy to walk into the Cortex and find her all alone, sipping her tea.

"Oh!" She swallowed hurriedly. "I was analyzing the particles that Clay Parker and Shawna left behind, and I found something very interest-"

Normally he would have let her finish, but she looked so good in her white blouse, hair curled, and that "Doctor gleam" in her eyes. He pressed her up against the desk and attacked her mouth with his. She squeaked in surprise but responded quickly.

All too soon, however, she was pulling away. "Barry... I was talking."

"Sorry, had to do that. Keep going." He straightened his shirt and sent her an innocent look.

She rolled her eyes. " _Anyway_. I found something very interesting. When Clay's cells come into contact with Shawna's, they adopt her properties."

"Huh." He looked down at the tablet, then back up at her. She was biting her lip. "Is something bothering you?"

She gave him this wide eyes, surprised look, her lip coming free of her teeth as she said, "Why would you ask that?"

"You're doing that biting your lower lip thing you do when something's bothering you." He had noticed that about her. It wasn't concentration: That was wrinkling her forehead and staring intently on whatever she was working on.

She looked surprised, and felt a tingle shoot up her spine and the intensity of his gaze. "I'm fine." She looked away, and glanced at her screen.

"Ok." Barry looked down too, and there was a pause in conversation.

Then Caitlin straightened so suddenly she startled him. "Cisco says I don't have a life."

Barry got that infuriatingly cute and annoying smirk on his face. "You don't, do you?"

"I do!" She cried, but she was grinning. "I cook and I eat and I.. read, and I help you... and sometimes we go out to dinner..."

"So what you're saying is you do everything that has _nothing_ to do with having a life." He was just teasing her now, seeing how riled up she could get.

She mock glared at him. "You don't have to be rude about it."

"Hey, I'm not doing much better." He admitted. "My social life consists of running at superhuman speed and Netflix. And you, of course."

She titled her head, her voice going soft. "We are quite the pair, Mr. Allen."

"Yes we are, Dr. Snow." He agreed. He probably would have backed her against the desk again, but her computer beeped.

"There's an armed robbery in progress." She squinted at the screen. "2 suspects, male and female, in their 20s. Looks like our metahuman Bonnie and Clyde are at it again."

"Time to ruin their social life." He smirked. She ginned in response, and Barry pecked her lips and zoomed out.

* * *

The cut was small, just a little indent in the back of Barry's neck, but the part that scared Caitlin was that it was there at all. "This is a _bullet wound_." She told him gravely. "You're lucky it just barely broke the skin." She had seen him too many times already in the "unlucky" stage.

He nodded and rolled his shoulders once before shrugging up his sweatshirt. Then he turned to grin at her. "I guess I'm a lot faster then a speeding bullet."

The eye roll that came after was predictable, but his smile was contagious. She kissed the top of his head, and turned to put her swab away.

Wells came into the room, wheeling down the ramp in his chair, and Barry filled him in on what had happened. "Shawna Baez. She can teleport."

Caitlin glanced over her shoulder. "As in, _Bead me up, Shawna_?"

Barry shrugged, and Wells nodded his head. "Yes off course. Forman entanglement." Barry wrinkled his nose. "The ability in interconnect particles over an infinite distance." He ran a hand through his hair. "Or, as Einstein put it: Spooky action of distance."

"Every time I got close she'd disappear." Barry grumbled. "It was like we were playing a game of-"

"Peek-A-Boo!" Caitlin interrupted. The two men turned to look at her. "Come on, can't I name one?"

He shook his head in amusement. "How am I supposed to catch her if I don't know where she's gonna be?"

"Everyone has limits, Mr. Allen." Wells said wisely. "Now that we know Shawna's powers, we'll focus on those limits." He began to wheel backwards out of the room.

"Alright, let me know." Barry ran his fingers over the back of his head. "I have to change. Gotta go help Iris."

Caitlin froze. "What did you say?"

"She's writing a paper on the Flash." He grinned. "I promise- I won't be creepy."

 _That's not what I was thinking, Barry Allen_. Caitlin mentally grumbled. But she flashed him a quick smile and turned back to her work. _Fine. If he wanted to go see Iris, he could go see Iris. What did she care?_

* * *

The microscope was bright in her eyes when Caitlin heard her phone ring. She picked it up. "Hey."

It was Barry. "What bars did Shawna and Clay frequent?"

Even though he couldn't see her, Caitlin frowned. "Uh.. mostly south-side dive bars. Why?"

She could almost hear Barry's shrug through the phone. Or maybe she just knew him that well. "I was just gonna check them out, see if they had fallen into any old habits. Want to come? We can make it a date." The last part was almost teasing.

"Good idea. I'll meet you in 30 minutes?"

"Sounds good." Barry hung up, and Caitlin turned away from her microscope.

Tonight was going to be about making Barry go as crazy for her as possible. She already knew what she was going to wear.

* * *

Caitlin could hear the sounds of a very drunk singer as she opened the door. She was wearing a very short, very skimpy, shiny black bar dress, and had curled her hair perfectly. Complete with the highest black heels she owned and a handbag, she was very pleased with her appearance.

Barry was sitting at a table by himself, smirking at the singer. She click-clacked up to him. He looked up. "Hey..." His smiled faded into one of shock, and he ran his eyes up and down her body in a way that made her shiver.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"What? Nothing!" He insisted, tearing his eyes away from her long legs to rest on her face. "You just look... really good. Like _really_ good."

She grinned. "I don't always dress like a high school principal."

He laughed, then glanced around the bar. "So, this is where Shawna and Clay used to hang out."

"At least according to their files." She sat down next to him an glanced around. "I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. Look for them, and have some fun together. _Without_ Cisco."

He smiled. "We have quite the romantic life. Fighting bad guys-"

"Nearly giving me a heart attack every week-" Caitlin added.

"Spending our alone time watching stupid movies while Joe is _still in the house_ -"

"Getting kidnapped-"

They both started to laugh, and Barry kissed the top of her head. "What is _wrong_ with us? We're in our 20s! We should be having fun, going on lots of dates, _real_ dates, not crime fighting ones."

Caitlin giggled. "Maybe we can make a push to go on _real_ dates after this one."

"Ha, yeah. Like that'll happen."

The black on her dress sparkles as Caitlin raised her glass. "Well: Here's to that hope." She chugged the glass back.

"That is.. very fast... and you drank all off it." Barry shook his head in amusement.

She felt very light and floaty now. "Excuse me!" The bar tender turned around. "I would like to start a tab." She turned to Barry and grinned. "Might as well have some fun!"

* * *

"Excuse me. Hey, dude!" The guy at the bar was _completely_ ignoring him. He was about to try again when heard a _very_ familiar voice yell:

"MR. BARRY ALLEN! Come on down. Or up! Come up here, with me!" _Oh no_. He turned slowly to find Caitlin on the karaoke stage, beaming and looking absolutely adorable... but very drunk.

He shook his head vehemently, but she only smirked. "Oh, come show 'em watch you got. Come on. Barry! Barry! Barry!" Soon the entire bar was yelling his name.

Barry closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face in mortification, but he ran up the steps to Caitlin. The last thing he wanted was some other guy going up there with her, and singing with her, and possibly brining her home in this drunken state-

He got up to the stage, and she placed her hand heavily on his shoulder. "Oooh, look at you go, you're so fast- oh SHHHH!"

"I'm not much of a singer." He muttered in her ear. "And _you_ are not much of a drinker.

"We are gonna bring this place down." Caitlin assured him.

The music started, and Caitlin bopped back and forth in a way that made Barry wish that he had a video camera. _Oh, you have to be kidding me... Summer Lovin'? Really?_

"Get ready.." Caitlin told him. "Summer lovin', had me a blast." She was completely tone deaf. Barry wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol, or if she really just couldn't sing, but it sounded _awful_. Not that he would ever tell her that. "Summer lovin', happened so fast."

"I met a girl, crazy for me." Barry sang. His face was red, but this was actually kind of fun.

"I met a boy, cute as can be." She grinned at him, and whispered. "Like you!"

He bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Summer days, drifting away," She wasn't singing, so he gestured for her to join in.

"Doo wap, oh the summer nights. Oh wella wella wella _uh_."

* * *

When the song finished, Barry helped a now very tipsy Caitlin down the steps and over to their table. She picked up a glass and sipped. "You're fast _and_ you can sing? What can't you do?"

"Stop you from drinking, apparently." He teased.

She frowned. "I'm not even sure that was mine." He grinned. "I have to go to the bathroom." Caitlin said gravely.

"Ok." He watched her stumble into the crown with a faint smile. This was a very different side of his Caitlin then he had ever seen. She was more open, less serious, willing to tease and flirt and have a little fun. He liked it. It was pretty hot.

Barry closed the tab and waited for Caitlin. A young woman with dark hair and a pretty smile approached him. "Hey, Barry?"

He was instantly on alert. "How do you know my name?"

"Barry, Barry, Barry..." She reminded him.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that." He felt a blush creeping up his neck, and hoped he hadn't made to much of a fool out of himself.

"No problem. Was that your girlfriend?"

"Yeah." He nodded with a smile, glancing in the direction where Caitlin had walked off to. "Yeah, she is."

"Oh, alright." She seemed disappointed, though Barry wasn't sure why. "Well, it was nice meeting you."

"You too." He smiled and waved. Once the woman (he hadn't gotten her name, he realized) was gone, Caitlin came tottering back.

"Barry.. I don't feel good." She gave him her big puppy dog eyes, face pale, and he was on his feet, grabbing his stuff, and flashing them outside before she could blink.

While she threw up in the parking lot, Barry held back Caitlin's long hair and rubbed her back soothingly. After a lot of panting and trying to compose herself, she gingerly straightened. "You good?" Barry asked.

She winced. "You could say that."

He picked her up and flashed her to her apartment. When they arrived in the hallway she looked around. "Are we still running?" She mumbled dizzily.

"No, we're here."

The run seemed to have sobered Caitlin up some. "Vodka and Super-speed- Not a good combination."

He laughed softly, and eased the coat off of her shoulders. Caitlin tottered into her apartment, throwing her shoes in the corner, and started to talk. "So, what did you tell her?"

"Who?" Barry looked around curiously. He had only seen Caitlin's apartment once, and that was after she had been kidnapped. He hadn't really had time to see how _Caitlin_ the whole room was. There was a neatly made bed, a clean bedside table, and an adjourning door that most likely led to another part of the apartment. It was all very neat, but homey.

"That girl. The one that came up to you after I left."

"I told her that you were my girlfriend."

"You did?!" She glanced up at him with large, bright eyes, a smile stretching across her face. "Good."

"Why wouldn't I have?" Barry asked.

"Because I wasn't sure if you considered me your girlfriend yet. I mean, we've only been on a few dates, and I wasn't sure how long it usually took you to decide that kind of stuff." She reached behind to her neck and parted her curls.

Barry turned around awkwardly, hands rubbing his neck, as she unzipped her dress. He wanted to look, but it wasn't right, especially not with Caitlin in this state.

The sound of rustling fabric stopped. "Little help please?" He turned to see Caitlin standing with her dress caught around her midsection, black bra completely revealed.

"Oh, um, yeah, yes." He used his super-speed to get it done as quickly as possible, locating her PJs, and changing her.

Caitlin tilted in surprise for a second, then glanced at the dress on the floor. "Huh. There you go again. Saving me from that evil dress."

He shook his head fondly at her drunken antics. "Get into bed."

As he pulled back the covers, she asked. "Did you sneak a peek? At my goods?"

Oh gosh, his face was so red. He hoped for her sake that she didn't remember any of this in the morning. Well, maybe the girlfriend part. He wanted her remember that she shouldn't feel insecure about their dating. She was definitely his girlfriend. "I would be much of a hero if I did."

"Yeah.." It sounded like there were 8 e's in the word. "But it's ok if you peeked a little. You deserve a peek of all that good stuff, you do."

He leaned foreword and gently kissed her forehead. "Drink lots of water."

"Thank you for tonight." She blinked sleepily. "I sang..."

Barry laughed quietly. "Anytime."

He turned to leave the room, but her voice, suddenly small and afraid murmured, "Barry? Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

It jarred him. For a moment he didn't see his confident Dr. Snow, but a vulnerable girl, lonely and needing him. He nodded mutely, and sat down on top of her covers. "You can come in." She patted the bed beside her. "It's ok."

So he laid down, and curled his arms protectively around her. And they both fell asleep.

* * *

When Caitlin woke up, she was very warm, and had a _huge_ headache. The events of last night came back to her in filtered bits, but one thing she _did_ remember was Barry falling asleep with his arms wrapped around her. So where was he now?

She saw a note propped up against a glass of water and two tablets of Advil. After gulping the latter two down, she glanced over the note.

 _Morning Cait,_

 _I had to go into the Police Department early, but I will see you at STAR labs. Hope you don't feel too awful._

 _I had fun last night!_

 _~ B_

She nodded, satisfied, and stood groggily to get dressed.

When she walked into STAR Labs and hour later, Barry was waiting for her at the door. "Hi!"

"So loud..." Caitlin muttered. Her head was pounding like there was no tomorrow.

Barry breathed out a laugh. "Oh... I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Let's just say I envy your inability to get drunk." Caitlin hissed, moving very slowly down the hall. "I don't remember much from last night." She did, however, remember the important parts. Like the part where Barry told her that she was his girlfriend.

"Yeah, that's _probably_ for the best." He got the adorably devious glint in his eyes. "Summer Lovin'..."

"Oh, gosh, that I do remember." Caitlin groaned.

Barry laughed for real this time, and she gave him a weak smile in response. They finished the walk to the Cortex together, and came in on Dr. Wells and Cisco. Barry's smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Cisco has something he needs to tell you." Wells ground out.

"Hartley's gone." Cisco muttered.

The blood drained from Caitlin's face. _No_. Barry seemed to be in the same state of shock. "He escaped from the pipeline? How is that even possible?"

There was a long silence where Cisco seemed to be working up the courage to speak. "I- I let him out." He turned to Caitlin. "Are you mad? I can't tell with those glasses on."

"I'd like to yell and wave my arms but I think I'd throw up." Caitlin ground out. How could Cisco do such a thing?

The explanation he gave calmed her down enough to give him a hug, but then she turned and left the room. Barry looked like he was going to follow, but Wells called him over.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to anyone right now. She was struggling inside. She forgave Cisco, and what she had assured him about it not being anyone's fault was true.. but it still hurt like a hot knife laid on her skin. She missed her brother.

* * *

Shawna had been locked up, the grief that her lover abandoned her still showing itself on her face. Barry and Caitlin turned and began to walk out, while Cisco closed the door. "Crazy is right." Caitlin commented.

Barry smiled at her. "Some people are worth being crazy for."

Caitlin bit her lip. "Uh, I'm sorry if I was a bit of a drunken mess the other night."

"Actually, it was pretty fun." He had the note in his voice that he got when he was teasing her, but she could tell he meant it.

She, honestly, agreed. "Yeah, it was. And, about what you said-"

"Oh, good. You remember that." He looked relieved. "You are my girlfriend, Cait. I'm proud of that.. even if we haven't told anyone."

Caitlin leaned up to kiss him. "I'm glad I have you. I don't know what I would do if I didn't."

"Oh, you'd figure something out." Barry smiled gently. She shrugged, and he hugged her.

Caitlin thought she might have heard him whisper 4 small words in her ear. But she couldn't be sure.

 _I love you, Caitlin._

* * *

 _Summer days, drifting away, doo-wap, oh the summer nights._

 **Author's Note: Whew, I honestly was worried I wasn't going to finish on time! Anyone else had a busy week? And I've been writing so much Karamel, and other things... this got a little pushed to the side :P But it is here now.**

 **He admitted he loved her! Sort of... When do you guys think he's gonna say it?**


	13. 1x13

**Author's Note: Do you guys realize we are already on chapter 13? That's pretty awesome! And do you know what's even more awesome? The fact that, before this chapter was written, I had 30,121 words written! That's insane!**

The day had started... rough. First, Cisco had confronted them about their date. He was very offended that they had decided not to invite him. They tag-teamed, and made up a surprisingly believable story about (well, this was mostly Caitlin) how he had recently gotten a concussion and needed rest, and also (Barry's turn) how he shouldn't be drinking alcohol. It seemed to convince him, though he still seemed displeased.

That had been at Jitters. When they sat down with their coffee's, Iris approached them, and they all watched some of the news together. It talked about the "Burning Man", also known as Caitlin's brother. Iris had, unfortunately, remembered that Caitlin has asked about the Burning Man (back when she had been looking for her brother).

Now they were all in the Cortex, investigating the Martin Stein lead they had acquired from Cisco's deal with Hartley. "Who even is he?" Barry was asking. "I don't even know-"

Well's pressed a button on the screen. "Martin Stein." A picture popped up of an older man in a suit.

Barry's eyes got huge. "That's Stein?" Wells nodded. "I've seen him before."

"When?" Caitlin questioned.

"On the train the day the accelerator exploded." He quickly filled them in.

That lead them to go visit Clarissa Stein, Martin's wife. Caitlin, Barry and Wells went on the expedition. She seemed a nice woman, and let them in quickly after they explained what they were here for.

"Have you seen the person the news is calling the "Burning Man" recently?" Barry asked her.

"Yes... I have."

Caitlin felt the blood draining from her face. She exchanged glances with Barry. "Who is he?" Clarissa demanded.

"He's just a person of interest in your husbands case." Wells covered smoothly.

Clarissa seemed to buy it, but Caitlin knew they would have to tread carefully, so to speak.

They questioned Stein's wife a little longer, trying to figure out everything they could. Eventually, though, Clarissa seemed to be getting suspicious. Caitlin and Barry followed Wells out the door and down the path. "It seems Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond have something in common besides sharing a body. They both need to protect the most important woman in their lives."

Caitlin stared at the ground. She missed her brother so much, but, honestly, she didn't want him back if they had to lock him up in the pipeline when they caught him.

Barry reached back and squeezed her hand. "Clarissa said she feels like she's being watched."

"Well then." Wells stopped his chair, and they clustered around it. "This is the makings of a stakeout."

"Barry's meeting Iris tonight." Caitlin told Wells with a frown. He hadn't gotten to see his friend much lately, and they had _finally_ planned a time to see each other.

"I'll cancel." Barry assured her immediately. Caitlin gave him a small smile, knowing that he was trying to be there for her through all of this.

"No, go." Wells told him, waving a hand. "If we need you here, something tells me you can come in a hurry."

* * *

The stakeout was going pretty well.. until the person they were waiting for showed up. Ronnie, or Martin, or Firestorm, or _whoever_ he was, landed with a burst of flame in front of Clarissa's house.

"So.. I'm assuming you have Barry on speed dial?" Wells commented lightly.

She tried not to let anything show on her face. For a little while now, she had been suspicious that Wells knew about Barry and her relationship. Without responding, she grabbed her phone and clicked the first text message "Barry Allen".

 _Firestorm._

He appeared as fast as Wells said he would, glancing over at their van to make sure they were ok, before approaching Firestorm. "Professor Stein! Hey, I'm not here to hurt you. And I know you don't want to hurt anyone else. So if you could just not-" Firestorm's head and hands burst into flame. "Flame on." Muttered Barry.

Firestorm sent a burst of flame, and car much _much_ too near where Caitlin and Harrison were exploded. Barry ran at him, and slammed into his stomach, knocking him into a pillar.

Then he burst into flames. Barry was glad, at that moment more then ever, that Cisco had made his suit fireproof. Firestorm shot into the air, Barry still hanging on.

As they spun into the sky, Caitlin pressed her foot to the gas pedal and their van surged down the road after them. Caitlin saw Barry falling, and her heart leapt into her throat. "No-" She croaked out.

But Firestorm caught him seconds before he hit the ground. Caitlin slammed on the breaks and threw herself out of her seat as the Burning Man approached her boyfriend, about to kill him.

"NO!" She placed herself in front of Barry, locking eyes with her brother.

He shot into the sky again, and she followed the light with her eyes. Then she knelt at Barry's side. "It's ok. You're ok."

"I'm sorry." He breathed.

"It wasn't your fault." A tear trickled down her cheek and she pulled him to her chest. "It wasn't your fault."

* * *

"Well, we got him." Barry told Wells as he strode into the Cortex, standing as close to Caitlin as possible without looking suspicious. "Now what?"

"Professor Stein thinks that he can separate himself using Nuclear Fission."

"But what do you think?" Caitlin asked her mentor, voice quiet.

"What do I think? Is is possible? Theoretically." Wells fiddled with his fingertips. "But splitting an atom and splitting a man are two very different things."

Caitlin looked away, trying not to cry. When she looked up, her brother was right there. Clean, hair cut, in a sports jacket and jeans. "I don't suppose it's necessary to point out that you're all staring?" All of them looked away sheepishly.

This was almost too weird for Caitlin to handle. He _looked_ like Ronnie. He _walked_ like Ronnie. He even _smelled_ like Ronnie. But he wasn't Ronnie.

Firestorm strode foreword a few steps. "It is remarkable. I feel clearer then I have since the accident. What did you give me?"

"A cocktail of anicycodits," Wells responded calmly. His face didn't show any emotion. Caitlin didn't think she was the same right now. "Depressants and moon stabilizers."

"The same formula used to treat identity disorder." Ronnie, or Stein, realized. He walked toward Caitlin. "I assume this was your idea." She wanted to run. She wanted to look away. Instead, she just nodded. "Very clever, Cait."

Barry looked like he wanted to go to her side. She gave him a look, telling him she could handle it. "Don't call me that. Please." Right now, in her life, only Barry was aloud to use that nickname. This wasn't her brother.

He nodded. "I apologize."

She snapped out of it as best she could. "We'd- like to run some tests on you. If you don't mind."

"Of course not." She led him out of the room, and Barry tagged along at her heels.

When Firestorm had entered, he grabbed her wrist and hugged her. "I so sorry, Caitlin. This isn't right. It's not fair that you guys could help me and not him. I wish- I wish I could switch with him."

Tears filled her eyes. "Barry, I need you right now. A lot. And I'm glad that you're here. I would never switch you for my brother. I wouldn't switch any of you. I just wish-"

"I know." He kissed her forehead for a long moment. "I'll let you go test him."She nodded and wiped her face, before turning to go inside the room.

* * *

When she came out, she felt her hands shaking. Barry was leaning against the door flame. "You ok?"

She nodded shakily. "Yeah. It's just... confusing."

He reached up to rub her arm with his palm. Wells, who had overheard them, was watching the screen of a tablet. "What isn't confusing is what's happening to him now. Ronnie's body is rejecting Stein's atoms like a host rejecting a parasite. I'm worried that if his temperature continues to rise, it will set of a chain reaction."

Caitlin felt her feet moving on their own accord. Barry voiced what she was thinking. "And then what happens?"

Wells looked up. "He could go nuclear."

Caitlin felt her knees turn to jello. Barry placed his hand on her lower back, steadying her. She resisted the urge to lean against his chest, be surrounded by the warmth of his arms and have a good cry.

They had to figure this out. They were still discussing the problem and how to fix it when Cisco walked in. He shut the door behind him with a very disturbed look on his face. "That's not freaky at all."

Wells explained what was going on to Cisco, and Caitlin's muddled brain could barely follow the scientific babble ( **A.N: Or.. maybe I just didn't feel like writing it all down. Either way :** ).

One thing in her mind was clear. "How long does he have?"

Wells wheeled his chair around to face her. "If his temperature keeps rising at the current pace, no more then a couple of hours."

Again her knees felt the weak, shaky feeling in them. "But you can fix it." Barry asked. "Right? I mean, you can separate them before it's too late."

"Any attempt we make," Wells told him gravely. "To separate them could be catastrophic. It could make an explosion. And a nuclear explosion of this magnitude would blow up this entire city."

Barry looked at his shoes. He couldn't meet Caitlin's eye. "Unless..." Wells continued.

"Unless what?"

"Unless the host body was no longer functional."

Caitlin felt her eyebrows creep up to her hairline. "You want to _kill_ Ronnie?"

"No, I don't want to kill Ronnie." Wells ground out. "But in this scenario, Ronnie is the host body."

"If you kill Ronnie-" Cisco spoke up for the first time, his voice stronger then Caitlin felt her's would be. "You kill Stein. That's two people!"

"I don't know how else to stop it. And my guess is, if Ronnie and Professor Stein knew the consequences they were both facing that they would make the same decision." Barry reached up to rub his face, hating that he mentor was right. "It's two lives." Wells added. "For a million."

Caitlin's voice was quite but not trembling as she spoke to Cisco. "Can you give us a minute?"

Cisco turned and left the room. Wells held her gaze. "Caitlin-"

"I already lost Ronnie once." Her voice was hard, her gaze harder. "I'm not gonna do it again. You said we had a couple of hours. Use them."

She felt tears beginning to sting behind her eyelids again, so she turned and strode out of the room.

Barry followed her, and she finally got to have that good, long cry in his arms. He held her tightly, kissing her hair and rubbing her back, until she controlled her emotions enough to calm down. "You know what I think, Caitlin?"

"Yeah?" Her voice came out scratchy, so she cleared it.

"I think that the people working on this problem are the smartest people who have ever lived. And I think that, more then that, they both love you, and want you to be happy. They are going to figure out how to fix this."

She nodded, and pressed her wet face into his shoulder. "I just- I just want my brother back."

"You'll get him back." Barry whispered in his ear. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that you get him back, Cait. We are going to figure this out."

* * *

Either Barry could tell the future, or he just knew his team really well. "We're done." Wells called to them, setting down his tool, while Cisco, on his left, did the same.

"What is it?" Barry asked.

"This," Wells set the last piece into place. It turned neatly in it's spot. "is a quantum splicer."

"Will it work to separate them?" Caitlin said.

"We'll know in twelve minutes." Not exactly reassuring, but it was better then nothing. "Now Barry, even you can't outrun a nuclear blast so bring this device to professor Stein and get out of there as fast as you can-"

Caitlin grabbed the quantum splicer out of his hands before Barry could and strode towards the exit. "What are you doing?" Barry asked.

"I'm going with you." Her face was set. She wasn't bending on this, no matter what anyone them said.

"No, you're not!" His opinion was almost as set as her's... almost.

"It's too dangerous!" Wells called over to them.

"Barry doesn't know how to operate the splicer." Caitlin argued, shrugging on her coat.

"Cisco can talk me through it!" Barry contradicted.

She shook her head. "There's not enough time. Let's go."

Wells sighed in defeat and waved them on. "Go!" Barry grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her into his arms. She wrapped both arms around his neck, and he flashed her outside.

It was amazing. She had never been on one of Barry's runs before (well... she had, but she had been really, _really_ drunk, and didn't really remember it), and she suddenly understood why he liked it so much. The word flashed past, colors and people and places all blurring together as he ran. She felt the warmth of his body, the friction heating up his suit, and her own clothes. Caitlin breathed in Barry's sent, of mint and fresh air, and tightened her grip on the splicer.

( **A.N: Just a note: She wouldn't have actually been able to go with him. The force of all the tiny dust and dirt particles in the air would have scratched up her face a ton, and the friction would have set it on fire. Just saying. It's science, people.** )

When they landed, they were in literally the middle of nowhere. Ronnie, or Stein, she wasn't sure anymore, was standing a few feet away with a gun to his head. Barry yelled over. "Professor Stein!"

He turned to them. "What are you doing? You can't be here! Get her out of here, now!"

"Please!" Caitlin struggled down the hill, her voice breaking. "Look, Ronnie's still in there somewhere!"

"All those people... Clarissa, I won't let the die! It's better I end this now." He held the gun back up to his temple.

"We can separate you!" Barry shouted. "We can stop the explosion."

"How?" He lowered the gun, much too slowly for Caitlin's liking.

"A quantum splicer." She could barely hear herself over the wind and her pounding heart. "It's a fission device designed to bombard your atoms with as much energy as they experienced in the particle accelerator explosion. It should be enough to separate you." She felt tears sting in her eyes. "Please Professor, you have nothing left to lose."

The stared into her brother's eyes. "Ronnie.. if you're in there... I love you."

He lurched forward and crushed her to his chest. She wrapped her arms tightly around his torso and sobbed. Her brother, the boy who had practically raised her after her father died, was about to die, again, himself. And he was still thinking of her.

He gently disentangled himself from her grip. "That was from him."

She felt her cheeks burn, just a little. "I look foreword to meeting you in person, Professor." Then she attached the splicer to his chest and walked a few steps backwards.

Ronnie began to burst into flames. "It's not working!" Caitlin cried.

"He's not gonna make it he's gonna blow!" Cisco yelled into the comms.

"Barry, get out of there, _now_!" Wells shouted.

Barry grabbed her, but she struggled. "No, no! Ronnie!" She couldn't lose her brother _again._ Not again.

"We have to go." Barry finally took control of her, brute force against her small frame, and wrapped her up in his arms. "Come on, Cait."

As they sped away, she buried her wet face in his shoulder and sobbed. Her brother was gone. Again.

 **Author's Note: Duh duh duuuuuh! Part two will be up soonish! I hope you all liked it :)**


	14. 1x14

**Author's Note: Okeeeeee! Part two has arrived.**

 **I think that if I hadn't made Ronnie her brother, I would have hated these episodes. But I LOVE them instead! So, kudos to me :D**

Barry had outrun the blast.. mostly. Near the end it had blown him off his feet, and he had dropped Caitlin, sprawling into the snow. He ignored Cisco's question of, "Are you guys ok?", and crawled over to Caitlin's side.

"You ok?" He helped her sit up.

"I think so." She leaned into his chest for a moment, and he could feel her shaking.

"I think so!" Barry repeated into the mic.

They looked out over the snowy expanse from where they had run from. The dust hadn't yet settled, and light could be seen from in. "Oh gosh." Caitlin gasped. "The nuclear explosion. There's no telling how much radiation we were exposed to."

Barry helped her to her feet, keeping a hand on her lower back to steady her. "Wait, wait wait wait wait, this can't be right." Cisco muttered. "The gyre counter in the suit: It's reading less then one milared."

"But.. that's normal." Barry frowned.

"There's no radiation." Wells realized.

Caitlin looked at him, eyes wide. "Let's go." Barry picked her up again and they flashed off.

The blow had left a deep trench in the middle of the snowy landscape. They began to climb down it. Barry couldn't see anything through the dusty smoke; no bodies, no quantum splicer, nothing. He wasn't sure what to expect, and kept close to Caitlin's side.

"Did it work?" Cisco asked anxiously. "Did you separate them?"

"I don't know." Barry responded.

They walked a few more feet, and there was a body. It was Ronnie's body, his clothes torn, but there was no way of telling if he was dead or alive... or still Stein. "Ronnie?" Caitlin's voice wavered with uncertainty. She ran the last few steps as he started to groan. "Tell me your name."

"Ronnie Raymond." He grinned, and she attacked him with a hug. "It's me. Caitlin... I missed you so much."

She held on tighter, and Barry smiled down at the two of them, overjoyed to see his Caitlin so happy.

"Uh, pardon me." Everyone looked over. There was Stein, in his normal body, standing awkwardly with tattered clothes and pinched expression. "But obviously I need a change of clothes."

Relief and happiness filled Barry to the brim, and he laughed. "Nice to see you in the flesh again, Professor Stein." He glanced down at the siblings in the snow. Caitlin was helping her brother to stand. "We're coming home. All of us."

* * *

It took Barry a bit to flash everyone back to S.T.A.R. Labs, but eventually they were all coming out of the elevator. "Ronnie Raymond!" Cisco grinned, approaching them.

"Cisco!" Ronnie clapped his hand and grabbed him in a hug.

Cisco's smile was so large, it nearly covered the entire bottom half of his face. "I missed you so much, man." Ronnie pulled back and beamed at him. "I shouldn't have locked you in there."

"Hey." Ronnie nudged his shoulder. "Don't."

Harrison rolled up, smiling brightly. "Welcome back, Mr. Raymond."

"Dr. Wells." Ronnie inclined his head respectfully. "Caitlin told me what happened to you. I'm so sorry."

Wells cut him off. "I am responsible for me being in this chair, _you_ are responsible for me still being alive. So thank _you._ "

Caitlin pressed herself into her brother's side. "You said you'd bring him back. And you did. Thank you."

Wells nodded. "You're welcome."

"Excuse me." Stein, once again, interrupted the sweet moment. "Are we all planning to sing _Kumbya_ , next? Or do you have somewhere I can freshen up and get a change of clothes?"

"Of course." Cisco and Wells led Stein into the hallway, and Ronnie leaned against the wall, watching them go with a fond smile.

Barry grabbed Caitlin and spun her around the room in a large circle. She laughed in surprise and kissed him soundly on the mouth. "You got him back. We got him back!" She was almost in hysterics she was so happy.

Ronnie coughed. "Um... you have a boyfriend?"

Caitlin turned to him with a mock glare, smile still plastered on her face. "I do have a social life outside of saving you."

Barry snickered at the inside joke, though Ronnie looked a little confused. "Uh... right. Of course you do."

* * *

He looked like a porcupine. It would have been funny if he hadn't been in so much pain.

"It's like that time I stepped on a sea urchin." Cisco mused. Barry sent him a look. "Except _much_ worse."

"Just don't pee on me." Barry groaned.

"You know that's a myth, right?"

She ripped another barb out and he screamed. Caitlin bit her lip to keep it from trembling and rested her fingers lightly on his forearm. "I'm so stupid. Jason Rush, that grad student who was helping Professor Stein, do research, told me that he felt like he was being watched all the time. It was Eiling that was watching him!"

She rubbed her forehead, and yanked out another spike. Barry gritted his teeth and shut his eyes _hard_.

By the time they were all out, the rest of the team had left, and Barry was reduced to a quivering, whimpering mess. Caitlin carefully placed the tin of barbs in a desk drawer and sat down on the bed next to him. "I'm sorry that hurt so much."

"I hate Eiling..." Barry winced as he shifted. "Hang on... I need to get into something more comfortable."

A lighting filled second later, he was back on the bed, wincing and pulling his shirt down. She grabbed the hem and peered at his stomach, trying to gauge how fast the cuts were healing.

He kissed her hair. "Thank you for not letting me heal while I still had spikes in my body."

"I would never let that happen." She promise, though she was laughing. "But in all truthfulness... Barry, you looked like a porcupine."

He snorted with laughter, then glanced at her face. "Caitlin... you're biting your lip again. What's wrong?"

"Could Ronnie and I stay with you and Joe?"

"What?" He wrinkled his nose at the sudden question. "Why?"

"Well, I don't have room in my apartment, and I bet Eiling knows where I live now. He could come and, I don't know, _take_ Ronnie, and then what would we do? What would I do? But if it doesn't work... we can just find another place."

"No, no, that's fine." He smiled down at the top of her head. "I'll talk to Joe, ok? But I'm sure he'll say yes."

Barry gave his girlfriend the go ahead to come. Caitlin packed a small bag, and Ronnie took the only 3 outfits he owned, and they got to the West's house exactly on time.

"Aright, here we are." Barry yanked open the door. He seemed nervous, though Caitlin wasn't sure why. "You guys can sleep down in Iris' own room. It's kind of small, but-" Joe walked into the room. "Hey!" Barry cried.

"We have guests." Joe looked rather alarmed.

"You didn't ask him first?!" Caitlin hissed.

"Yeah, Joe, I hope that's ok." Barry had his "guilty face" on, but Joe just shrugged.

"This is Ronnie." Caitlin introduced.

Ronnie reached foreword and shook Joe's hand. The latter froze a second later and stared at Caitlin. "Ronnie? The-"

"Dead brother, yeah." Ronnie deadpanned.

"Hi." Joe looked extremely weirded out, but he didn't say anything else. He handed Ronnie his drink. "Beer?"

"Thanks." Ronnie took the alcohol.

The door opened, and none other then Iris West walked in, holding a few bags of groceries. "Dad? Barry?"

"Iris, hi!" Caitlin peeped, trying to control her facial expression.

"What are you doing here?" Joe asked.

"It's Tuesday. I was gonna make us dinner, remember? Iris tilted her head, looking at the two scared looking males in her family.

They both spoke at the same time. "Yeah." "Uhuh. Here, I'll help you."

"I knew you'd forget." Iris rolled her eyes in Caitlin's direction, extracting a smile from the other woman. "Men." She muttered under her breath. "There's plenty for everyone. Caitlin, what brings you by?"

"There's a gas leak in my apartment, so Barry said that we could stay here." Caitlin lied awkwardly.

"Oh, how sweet of him." Iris wiggled her eyebrows significantly at her "brother", and he rolled his eyes in response. "Who's this?"

Everyone turned to Ronnie. "This is- uh..."

"Her cousin!" Barry put in.

"Sam!"

"Visiting, from Coast City." Joe finished.

"Hi." Said Ronnie.

"You look really familiar." Iris tilted her head with a frown.

"I've got one of those faces." Ronnie told her smoothly.

Barry spoke up before things got any worse. "Uh... how about I get you two settled in, and then we can all help Iris with dinner?"

* * *

Caitlin hugged her brother tightly. "Come back." She locked eyes with Barry. "All three of you."

He nodded, wanting to kiss her really badly, to assure her that everything would be fine. But people were watching, and they still hadn't told everyone... this wasn't the time or the place. So instead they ran out the door.

Caitlin was surprised by how well the fight went. They could only hear what was happening over the coms, but Barry filled them in when they came back, about how Ronnie and Stein merged again, and they managed to defeat what seemed to Barry like half the army.

She was scared for her brother, but right now Barry was hurt. He lifted up his shirt, and tried to calm her worried look. "I think it looks worse then it is."

She raised her eyebrows slightly, and kissed the back of his neck, the only part she could reach and still hold up his shirt. "You took a risk. But thank you for saving Ronnie."

"Anytime."

Firestorm walked into the room, and Caitlin felt her throat close up. "Ronnie or Stein or-"

"It's me, Cait." He blinks for a moment. "It's both of us, somehow."

She tried to hold a smile but she felt it wavering. "Acceptance is a powerful thing." Wells commented from his chair.

"Powerful enough to reverse it?" Barry asked. Caitlin could tell that he felt like it was his fault they had had to merge again- even though it really wasn't.

"We can try." Ronnie shrugged. Caitlin backed up to stand next to Barry, and her brother burst into flames. A few seconds of blinding light later, there were two of them.

Barry grinned as Stein looked around in shock. "I think we're getting the hand of this quite nicely."

Caitlin ran over to hug her brother tightly. "It's ok, Ronnie. I understand. You have to go." Those words would be the death of her.

"How'd you know?" Ronnie whispered.

"I'm connected to you too." Caitlin smiled. "And you always did have an expressive face." She glanced up and tried for a smile.

* * *

"How are you doing?" Caitlin was sitting in Jitters with a mug of tea, trying to get up the strength to go home and take a bath.

Barry sat down beside her. "I thought Cisco was with you."

"You just missed him." She told him, fiddling with her fingers.

"You ok?" He reached across the table and took her hands in his, enveloping them nearly entirely.

She shrugged. "I- I don't know. I guess I'm just tired."

He reached out to tilt her chin so she was facing him. "You want to come back over to Joe's for tonight? Your stuff is all there, anyway."

A tingle shot up from her toes, and traveled all the way to their interconnected fingertips. "Do you think Joe would mind?"

"No." Barry gave her one of his gentlest smiles. "And anyways, I can convince him if he does."

"Ok." He pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She really was tired. Her limbs felt lead-like, and her head was fuzzy. She closed her eyes and leaned it on Barry's shoulder.

"Hey, you feel really warm." He murmured. "You think you're getting sick?"

She shrugged again, feeling to listless to do much else. "Maybe. Sometimes stress can do that to people. Or a high range of emotions." It was backhand knowledge to her; she barely had to think about what she was saying.

He picked her up anyway, and flashed her to Joe's house. The older man looked up when they entered. "Oh, hi Caitlin. Everything ok?"

She nodded with a faint smile. Barry jumped in. "Caitlin's not feeling great, so I offered for her to stay here another night. I hope that's ok..?"

"Perfectly fine." Joe beamed fondly at her. "You need anything."

"No, thank you, I'm just going to go lie down." She walked off to Iris' old room and laid down on the bed, fully clothed.

Barry sat down beside her and ran his fingers through her hair. Her curls fell apart and lay across the pillow as her eyes shut. The next thing she knew Barry had started putting on her pajama's a super-speed, and then had curled up against her. "Go to sleep, Cait. I'll be here if you need anything."

She tucked her head under his chin and closed her eyes. Even though her brother was gone, she still had Barry, and, right now, that was the most important thing in her life.

 **Author's Note: Did you guys like it? I had not planned on that ending, but it felt right, so I went with it.**


	15. 1x15

**Author's Note: Welcome back! In the real episode 15 he kisses Iris, then erases it. What is going to happen with Caitlin? Can you guys guess it?**

 **Sorry this is so short. I didn't have much to go on...**

It was early in the morning and they were all at STAR Labs. Caitlin had been watching Barry closely. He hadn't said good morning to her, had barely even smiled, and seemed distracted and tired. When Dr. Wells had left she walked up to him, and lightly brushed her fingers over his arm. "You ok? You seem off."

He briefly met her gaze, then looked away. "Uh, yeah, yeah, fine." Cisco walked over to stand by them as well, completely their triangle.

"Uh- Uh," Barry glanced over his shoulder. "Somebody at Picture News got it into Iris' head that something suspicious is going on with Dr. Wells."

He grimaced, and Caitlin raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Eddie knows what happened to Simon Stagg. Apparently, nobody's seen him since the night I stopped Anon Black."

"What'd you tell her?" Cisco asked.

Barry shrugged. "That's she's wrong. She is." He strode around the desk as Cisco nodded, ending the discussion. Caitlin filed out after him.

"You sure that's _all_ that is wrong, Barry?" She asked, when they were alone in the hallway.

He rubbed his neck, but broke down quickly. "I just- I feel like I should tell Iris." She let him continue. "She deserves to know about all of this. Who I am; what I do; what _we_ do. Keeping it a secret... I don't think it's keeping her any safer anymore. Especially now that there are these rumors about Wells and-" He broke off and sighed. "But Joe said I couldn't tell her."

"I think that you should talk to him about it." Caitlin told him. "Don't do anything rash without talking about it first. It could really mess up your relationship."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence." He muttered, and Caitlin laughed, kissing his lips gently.

"Whenever." She teased lightly, and continued down the corridor.

"Hey, Cait?" He called after her, voice a little more serious.

She turned back around. "Yeah?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes. "I- I feel like you should know that- I- I-"

"Hey guys!" Hollered Cisco, running down the corridor. "Oh, good, you're both still here. You wanna go for coffee, the three of us? The last time we did that we got interrupted by the Burning Man alert and Iris, so.."

"Sure.." Caitlin mumbled absently, staring hard at Barry. What had he been about to say?

* * *

When Barry walked into Joe's house, Iris was there, just closing her phone. She glanced up. "Hey, have you heard from Dad? He's not answering his cell."

"Uh no." Barry answered distractedly. He was still thinking about his almost confession to Caitlin. If Cisco hadn't walked... would he have told her how he felt. "No, I haven't talked to him."

"I'm starting to worry." Iris frowned at her phone, and sat down on the couch. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Um, I was looking for you, actually." Barry sat down on the edge of the couch. "I just met your friend, Mason, and he said that he had some kind of proof that Dr. Wells did something? Do you know what it is?"

She was giving him a look, and it made him nervous. "No. He hasn't told me."

Barry nodded, disappointed, but unsurprised. "So." Iris said suddenly. "How are things going with you and Caitlin?"

He froze. He was pretty sure his face was a strange shade of grey when he asked. "What- what do you mean, how are things with me and Caitlin?"

"Oh, come on Barry. You think I haven't noticed?" Iris rolled her eyes. "You _obviously_ like her."

He coughed, and suddenly the room was very warm indeed. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. The way you smile at her over your shoulder when you two think you're alone or unnoticed. The way you're always brush you hand across her arm or her back. I'm a reporter, Barry. You think I don't notice these things?"

He gulped. "I- I don't..."

She got up so she could look him in the face. "I think she's good for you, Bare. She makes you smile, in a way that I have never seen you smile before. If she's making you happy.. then that's what matters."

Barry stared at her a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah, thanks, Iris." He turned and grabbed his coat. "I- I have to go."

Iris stared after him, even after he ran out the door. "So are they already dating? Or did he just have a revelation?" She muttered, picking up her phone to try her dad again.

* * *

( **A.N: Ok, I actually had to add this scene, because there was so little between them during the episode. I had only 700 something words and was all like, "Well that's not fair!" So I made this up** )

"Barry!" Caitlin cried, rushing into the Cortex. "Oh my gosh, I heard about Joe. I'm so sorry."

He looked up from where he was sitting in Cisco's chair, eye red and bleary.

She grabbed him in a hug and pressed her lips to the top of his head, feeling his body trembling underneath her. "I couldn't save him, Cait." He breathed, face wet against her shoulder. "I have all this speed, all these powers, and I couldn't save him. I _can't_ save him."

"We're going to find him." She promised, hoping with everything in her that it was true. "And he's going to be fine. We save everyone if we set our mind to it."

He was still crying, and she let him. She sat in his lap with her arms around his neck, hugging him like there was no tomorrow. She knew full well that if anyone walked in, there would be no turning back. They would be discovered.

Right now, though, she didn't care. All she wanted to do was hold Barry as tightly as she could, and let him cry. "We're going to find him, Barry." Caitlin repeated, shifting her arms so she could rub his back.

He dozed off, tired out and scared, and she moved so that they could sit on the chair together, her curled up in his lap, cat like, still running her fingers through hair.

When Barry woke up, he had a new sense of purpose in his eyes. He kissed her very throughly, taking every strand of comfort that he could. Then he stood up. "I'm going to head to the CCPD, see what I can do."

She grabbed him and hugged him one last time, letting a kiss linger on the crook of his neck. "Ok. Call me if you need _anything_."

Once again, like earlier, he looked like he was going to say something. Then he phone buzzed. "It's Eddie. I've got to go."

"Go." She breathed, watching him flash out. "Go, Barry."

* * *

Wells had disappeared, leaving his wheelchair behind. Caitlin could feel her heart thudding as she ran down the corridor into the Cortex. Her phone was in her hand and she was dialing Barry's number before she could even register what she was doing. She was scared for Cisco. She was scared for herself.

He picked up immediately, so fast that he must of had his phone out. "Caitlin."

"Barry, I need to talk to you." She gasped. "Dr. Wells; he-"

"There- there's no time for that right now, alright?!" Barry interrupted. Caitlin stopped short, hearing the barely controlled panic invading his voice. "There is a _tsunami_ heading for the city. How do I stop it?"

He came before her, every time. Caitlin began to think. "Theoretically, if you can create a vortex barrier along the shoreline; a wall of wind that would be able to sap the wave of its energy before it hits the city."

She could almost see his face through the phone, could almost hear him pacing back and forth they way he did when he was stressed. "By running back and forth. How fast?"

"I don't know if you can run that fast." Caitlin whispered.

There was no answer for a long moment. "Iris is here. She's going to have to find out about me."

"It's ok, Barry." Caitlin soothed softly. "Joe with understand."

"Caitlin, I- I-"

"Just go!"

"No!" He yelled so loudly that she almost pulled the phone away from her ear. "No, let me finish. Caitlin... I love you." Tears built up in her eyes, but before she could say a word, the call had ended.

Caitlin sank into a chair, her entire body trembling. "Come back to me Barry." She whispered. "Please.''

 **Author's Note: AHHHH! And then he has to go and erase it!**

 **So, I was going to wait until the season finale to have him say it again.. but I don't know if that's realistic. I'm going to have to look at my timeline for this fanfiction and see if I can fit it in somewhere else. Yes, I have a timeline. I can't keep it _all_ in my head. **


	16. 1x16

**Author's Note: Alright! Sorry this took so long to get up. I forgot I hadn't posted it :P**

 **Time for chapter 16! We are cruising, guys!**

Barry had been acting weirdly around her. It wasn't the weird that led to a break-up, thank goodness. No, it was more of a, _You should be saying something to me right now_ , kind of weird. She felt like she had missed something, and it was bugging her.

Honestly, she also felt like she should be saying something to him. Something _big_ had happened.. but it was like it actually _hadn't_ happened. She was confused by the feeling, and she didn't like being confused.

What was more was that Barry was speaking the same things at the same time with her and Cisco. He had grabbed the 'Weather Wizard' name out of nowhere just as Cisco figured it out. And the 'Tri-geminal headache' thing? They were usually in sync... but not _that_ in sync.

The worst part was, he wouldn't tell her anything. Caitlin could tell that he wanted to; could tell that he was itching to tell her some secret, but whenever he got close to spilling, he would blink, check himself, and stop.

Now they were in the Pipeline after Barry had caught Mark in an old abandoned warehouse. "So, I still don't understand. How did you find him?"

Caitlin looked suspiciously at Barry, wondering the same thing. She tried not to notice how cute he looked with his bangs all smushed down on his forehead from his mask, and how soft his hair looked right now and- ok, so much for not noticing.

"Uh," Barry glanced nervously at her and she frowned. He shouldn't be nervous around her. "I just had a hunch."

 _Sure, Barry, sure_. "That's gotta be some kind of record." She gave him a smile. Maybe if she showed him that she wasn't upset with him in any way, he would open up to her.

"Yeah!" Cisco agreed with a laugh. Then he turned around with a grimace. "Well, there goes my excuse for bailing on my brothers birthday."

Caitlin sent Barry and amused glance, and followed her friend out. "Hey, Cisco, why don't I come with you? I'd love to meet your family, and see how little kid Cisco looked without long hair." She smiled gently at him.

He shrugged. "You can come if you want. But trust me, Caitlin, you don't want to meet my family."

"Oh, they can't be _that_ bad." Caitlin responded. "I'll join you."

She waved at Barry as he walked past, and he smiled at her, though his eyes still looked distant. She really wondered what was up, and if he would ever tell her.

 **Flash!**

"What no whoosh in?" She glanced over her shoulder as Barry walked slowly through the doorway and around their desks. His head was down, shoulders slumped, and she wanted more then anything just to give him a hug. He looked like he needed it.

"I needed the walk." He muttered.

"What happened?" Wells asked, just as she was about to.

"Nothing, uh-" He glanced at Caitlin, but his eyes flicked away quickly, over to Wells, then to the ceiling. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok." Wells allowed.

Caitlin wasn't going to let it drop so easily, but she would cut him some slack for now. "Have you talked to Cisco? I've been trying him on his cell, but he's not answering. I'm worried about him. He had a rough night."

Barry cracked a small smile at that. "Trust me. It got.. better."

She raised an eyebrow, searching his face. His phone rang and he took in out. "Hey, Joe. What's up?" He listened for a few seconds and nodded. "Alright. Be right there."

Before he could get all the way out of the room, Caitlin ran after him. "Hey, Barry!" She called. He turned around, eyes shifty. "Ok, what is going on with you?"

"What.. do you mean?" He asked, not meeting he gaze.

"Did I do something?" Caitlin demanded. "Or are you, I don't know, breaking up with me or something? You've been avoiding me all day, and you're acting really strange, and-"

She was cut off by his lips on hers. Her back hit the wall and he ran his hands down her sides, his mouth attacking her's with more rough force then usual. She responded with her own raw anger; anger at him pushing her away; anger at him not telling her what was going on; and was left in a weak kneed, breathless mess when he pulled away.

"I'm going to take that as... not breaking up with me, then." She breathed.

He puffed out a laugh, hands planted on either side of her face. "No, I'm not going to break up with you, Cait. I'm sorry I've been so... distant lately. I just- I did something that I can't tell anyone about, and..."

She blinked at him. "Oh my gosh. You time traveled!"

He took a step back, eyes wide with shock. "How did you- what- when did-?"

"This makes total sense!" Caitlin was on a role now, sure of her theory. "You knew exactly what Cisco and I were going to say because it _already happened_. That's why you were so confused when you had to go to the morgue." She stared at him, eyes huge. "How did you do it? What was it like? Do you think you can do it again?"

"No, I- I can't." He muttered. "I- Caitlin, I changed things, and the consequences.. Wells said that there are consequences, and I'm scared that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and the world is going to be in ruins, all because I did time traveled and wrecked everything."

She wrapped him up in a hug, the only thing she could think to do at the moment. "Whatever happens Barry, we're going to figure it out. Just.. next time, if there _is_ a next time, tell me. Ok? Tell me."

He nodded. "Look, I have to go."

"Yeah, yeah, go talk to Joe." She gave him a smile and turned to go back into the Cortex. "Time travel. That is pretty darn cool, Mr. Allen."

"Yeah." He grinned. "Yeah, it really is."

 **Flash!**

There afternoon had been a slight bit short of insane. Cisco had gotten kidnapped, which none of them knew, and had told Captain Cold who Barry was. Then he and his brother had been released, and Cisco had come back to STAR Labs in tears. Barry had forgiven him, like the amazing person he was, but Cisco felt like he wasn't worthy enough to be on Team Flash. So then Dr. Wells had gone out with him and somehow convinced him to stay.

Then they had figured out Snart's plan, Barry had stopped him (sort of), leaving Caitlin a nervous wreck and on edge. And now, finally, she was at Jitters, trying to explain to Iris and Eddie why Barry had been so weird lately.

Apparently, he had spilled their secret to Iris, saying something about she already knew, and Caitlin had to set that straight. She wasn't mad, exactly, but they needed to talk about who and how they were going to tell about them before they did anything.

Really, Caitlin needed some hot tea and a movie and cuddle with Barry. But she had to fix things for him first.

Barry walked into Jitters and Eddie stood up. He strode towards him and gave him a huge hug. Caitlin and Iris exchanged surprised looks, but followed him. "Barry, man, I'm so sorry. I heard what happened to you, and dude, it's so bad."

"Uh.. it's fine." Barry glanced at Caitlin, confused.

"You poor thing." Iris reached out and touched his arm. "I had no idea."

"No idea about _what_ , exactly?"

Caitlin hopped in before her lie could become any less believable. "I was just explaining to Eddie and Iris about your lightning psychosis."

"My... what now?"

 _Work with me here, Barry_. "Your lightning psychosis." Caitlin gave him a significant look. "How you're recent odd behavior is a side affect of you being struck by lightning." He was trying to stay on track, but she had this slit that was very low and her dress, and it was making his mind go all fuzzy. "Uh, yeah."

"Between sudden outbursts of affection, and other lapses of judgment."

"He has done all of those things. He said you two were dating!" Iris looked concernedly at her everything-but-blood-brother.

"Yeah, it's a very uncommon and illogical phenomenon- we really only now just starting to research it, which is why Barry has been spending so much time at STAR Labs."

"I just- I wish you had told me." Iris murmured, rubbing Barry's arm again.

Barry snuck a glance at Caitlin. "It, uh, hardly feels real sometimes."

Caitlin felt a laugh bubbling up in her throat, but she took a deep breath and forced it down.

"We're just glad you're getting help." Eddie said earnestly. Iris agreed quickly

"So, we're good?"

"Yeah, we're good." Iris beamed at him, and Eddie nodded furiously. Barry moved away from the two of them, over to Caitlin's side.

"Thank you." He whispered, intertwining their fingers.

"You are welcome." Caitlin responded. She made it all the way to their booth before she started to laugh. "Oh, man... Eddie's face.."

Barry grinned. "I can't believe they bought that!"

"Hey, I can be a pretty convincing liar when I want to be." Caitlin told him seriously.

Barry snickered again, and waved over a barista to get them some coffee. Caitlin leaned foreword, head propped on her hands. "So... you told Iris that we were together, huh?"

Barry avoided her gaze. "I, uh, I forgot that she didn't know. In the... other timeline... she found out. Or she figured out there was _something_ between us."

"Why would that be different now?" Caitlin wondered aloud. She wasn't sure she understood why everything was so different in this new timeline, but she did know it was dangerous to ask too much.

Barry shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe there was something we said, or maybe the conversation that we had just gave her a chance to approach me about it in her own way. I don't know." He grabbed the drink that had just been placed in from of him and took a sip.

Caitlin played with her fingers. "So, uh, are we ever going to tell anyone? About this? About... us?"

Barry leaned his chin on his hand. "We should. I just... we need to find that right time. Especially now because we've put it off for so long."

"I just don't want anything to change." Caitlin sighed. "I don't want Cisco to feel like he's getting pushed out of the way, and I don't want anyone to, you know, treat us any differently. But, Barry, I get the feeling that Wells already knows."

"Why do you think that?" Barry leaned foreword, suddenly alert. "In the other timeline, you were going to tell me something about him, but you didn't get the chance. Do you have any idea what it was?"

Caitlin thought hard for a second. "No.. I- I don't remember _anything_ from that timeline."

"Nothing?" Barry's heart sank for a moment, remember 3 small words he had finally had the courage to say. Now she didn't remember them.

Caitlin shrugged and shook her head. "Why? Anything I should know?"

"Uh, no. No, nothing." He took a sip of his coffee, hiding his face behind his cup.

They sat and drank their coffee for awhile, but eventually they had to get home. Barry glanced around and gave her a quick kiss. "Uh, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She smiled at him, and he flashed off.

Now he wasn't sure when he would tell her. And he also didn't understand why it was so hard to.

 **Author's Note: Well, there ya have it. That wasn't one of my more inspired ones, but I think I'm really getting the hang of this. Considering that all I have to go on are a few scenes that they're in together... well, it's a work in progress :)**


	17. 1x17

**Author's Note: I have just been on writing mode lately! So much to do, so little time... that's what happens when you write fanfictions for 4 shows- and they're all in season :D**

Caitlin was sitting in her living room when Barry called her. She picked her phone up. "Hey."

"Caitlin, there a bunch of bombs exploding in the park!" Barry shouted.

She pulled the phone away from her ear slightly. "What?! Where are you?"

"Central City park." He informed her, and she could hear the sound of small explosions. "There are bunch of kids, and these parachute bomb things. I can't get them all; there are too many."

For probably the first time in her life, Caitlin wished that she was the speedster, and could take the weight of everything for Barry. "Calm down." She told him. "Don't worry about stopping the bombs, just get everyone out of the way."

There was no response. "Barry?!"

"Sorry." He was back to his phone, panting a little. "There was a little kid who tried to catch one."

"Oh." She breathed. "Is he ok?"

"Yeah."

Caitlin had to rip her phone from her ear once again as a video flickered on to the screen. She stared at it in alarm, and tried to get it to disappear. When that didn't work, she grabbed her bag and ran for her car.

When she arrived at STAR Labs, the others were already there, and the video was finishing up. "The Trickster." Joe rubbed his face. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Cisco typed a few letters into his computer. "Because you've heard from a Trickster before. Jesse James."

"That doesn't look like the guy on the video." Barry noticed unhelpfully, grinning in Caitlin's direction.

Cisco read a little more. "That's because it's not. Apparently the original Trickster is locked up tight in Iron Heights, and has been for years."

"This guy must be an imitator." Joe murmured thoughtfully. "Come on, Bare. Lets see if we can find out if this guy knows anything."

Before they could leave, Caitlin called after him. "Hey, could you stop all the bombs?"

He gave her a sad look. "No. Nobody's dead.. I think."

Before she could respond, he had turned and walked out.

 **FLASH!**

The newest video came when Caitlin was in STAR Labs. Cisco informed Barry through the com, and then they all sat back to try and figure out what they could from the video.

"I have... a bomb." The new Trickster moved aside so that everyone could see the wooden box with a picture of a bomb on it. "It's a big bomb, and it'll make a big bang and a big hole, and then a big drop! But." He snickered. "Never say the Trickster is not fair. The bomb is somewhere between 52 Street and Avenue B. Find it or it goes bang."

Barry, still at Jitters with Iris, was overcome by on powerful protective urge. That guy was completely insane, and he found himself thinking that he would never let him come near Caitlin if he could help it. The Trickster had already threatened his city: He wouldn't get the woman he loved, too.

He flashed out of Jitters in a bolt of lighting, and raced to 52 Street. He canvased the entire area at superspeed, and slid to a stop in the middle of the road, breathing hard. "Guys! I can't find it. I need your help."

"There's nothing on traffic cams or CCPD." Caitlin told him, brow creased with worry, and not just for Barry, for once.

"I re-tasked the STAR Labs satellites to scan for any extra energy." Cisco told him, concentrating on his screen. "A bomb that large should be giving off some sort of chemical or thermal signature."

"Well then, why can't you find it?!" Barry sounded frustrated, but Caitlin knew it wasn't at them.

"Because it's a trick." Wells muttered under his breath. "The bomb's not there."

"No, it has to be, I'm going to keep looking." Barry argued. Caitlin frowned. Why didn't he trust Wells' judgment? He had been right nearly every time before.

"That is what he wants. You and the police to be kept occupied. There is something else going on Barry, I feel it, just trust me."

There was a long silence. "I'm gonna keep looking."

"Barry." Wells tried again.

"Barry!" Caitlin yelled into the com. "Barry, trust him. What if the bomb is somewhere else? We don't know that Axel is telling the truth."

"I-" She could see his dot still zipping through the city. "Cait-"

"Barry, trust me!" She cried.

"I found it!" He told them, and she sat back, biting her lip. Something was wrong here. "Guys... there's nothing inside."

A pit formed in her stomach. Something was really off. "Uh oh." Cisco muttered, confirming her fears. "There was an explosion at Iron Heights."

"This was all a diversion." Wells muttered.

"The prison was the real target." Caitlin realized.

"James Jesse." Wells laughed bitterly. "I guess he's tricked us all."

 **FLASH!**

"Henry's gone." Cisco muttered to her. She blinked at him. "Like, taken. The Trickster took him and Barry's a mess, just to warn you."

Caitlin nodded mutely. She should have been there for him but she was at _Jitters_ getting _coffee_ when her boyfriend's dad had just been kidnapped. She clacked into the Cortex, listening to Joe finish up his briefing on the case.

"I should have been there." Barry's voice was low, his eyes dark and angry. His hair stuck up in all directions like he had been running his hands through it. It was reminiscent of Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker look, which normal would have made her smile.

Caitlin walked around the desk and put her hand on Barry's shoulder. "We're gonna find you dad, ok?" She murmured.

He glanced up at her, wondering how she knew, but glad he didn't have to explain it again. Caitlin wished she could kiss him, or at least give him a hug, but everyone was watching and they _still_ hadn't told anyone but Joe.

"Definitely." Cisco agreed.

Barry sent both of them a grateful look. Joe spoke up. "I'm going to see if I can find anything else out, want to come?"

Barry shook his head, though he got up and followed his father anyway. Caitlin walked out of the room, ignoring Cisco's suspicious glance. He knew just how many times a week she gave pep talks to Barry, and there was something about it that made him think there was more then what he thought he knew.

Joe was hugging Barry, but he let go and gave him a little push towards Caitlin when he saw her. "Oh, sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Never." Joe smiled fondly at her. "You're probably better at this then I am."

"Probably not." Caitlin disagreed, but she hugged Barry anyway.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I should have listened to Wells. I should have listened to you. And now I'm paying the price. My dad's gone, Cait. What it the Trickster kills him, and I never get to tell him that I love him? He told me to be careful, and then he went and got involved with all of it, and it's all my fault..."

"It's not, Barry. We all make mistakes." She soothed, stroking a few fingertips over his hair. "It's just... your's seem so much worse, because you do so much more good to off-set it all."

He shrugged against her hands. "But what if-"

"No what ifs." She whispered. "We're going to find your dad, and then we're going to tell him about us."

"We are?" He pulled away slightly, searching her face.

"Yeah, we are." She told him firmly. "He deserves to know."

Barry hugged her again, and pressed his mouth her hers. "I don't deserve you."

"The savior of Central City? Yes you do."

 **FLASH!**

( **A.N: So, to make this more fun for myself, I'm going to spin a ways away from canon. I'm going to have Caitlin go to the party instead of Iris. Because, honest to goodness, everything happens to Iris, and I need some Snowbarry here, guys! So, just don't expect this to be too similar to the real show scene** )

"Uh, hi." Caitlin smiled at the two doormen. "Caitlin Snow. I'm with, uh, the science department." She flashed them her fake badge, made by Cisco, and they nodded, letting her pass.

"It worked." Caitlin breathed into com.

"Told you it would!" Cisco chirped.

"Be careful, Caitlin." Barry cautioned. "If you see either of the Tricksters, tell us as soon as you can."

She nodded, then remember her could see her, and verbally confirmed her answer. "Ok. I promise."

And attendant walked up to her. "Champagne, miss?"

Caitlin took the drink. "Oh, thank you." She took a sip, and it steadied her nerves some.

Enough, anyway, that she could look around without attracting any unneeded attention. She scanned the crowd quickly, searching for any sign of greying blond hair, or Axel's insane grin. Nothing turned up.

"I'm not seeing them." She hissed into her com.

"Keep looking." Wells insisted. "I'm sure they'll be there."

Back in STAR Labs, Barry crossed his arms. "I don't like this. She's putting herself in danger. _We're_ putting her in danger."

"I'll be fine." Caitlin's voice could be heard over the com. "Anyway, if anything happens, I'm sure that you'll rescue me."

A flicker of a smile zoomed over his face, almost as if it was his superspeed causing it. Then the worry lines returned. "Yeah, but still. Just be really careful."

"Barry." Caitlin warned. "I swear, I will turn off my com."

Cisco snickered into his fist as Barry turned red. He shut up, however when the speedster sent him a Dr. Snow-esc glare. "Sorry, dude."

At the party Caitlin was making zero progress. Then someone stood up on the podium. "Welcome, welcome! Central City's finest."

The Trickster continued, making corny jokes about the name "Bellows", until a member of the staff walked up the steps. "Who are you?"

"How quickly they forget." The Trickster muttered to the crowd. "James Jesse, your honor. AKA-" He whipped off his his wig and glasses, and Caitlin inhaled sharply. "The Trickster."

"Guys!" Caitlin hissed into the com. "Guys, he's here."

"And I'm here to relieve you fine people from all your money. Because you know, if you're in this room," He stopped and bellowed with maniac laughter. "You've got _loads_ of it."

Caitlin stepped backwards at the sight of Axel pulling out a large machine gun. _Come on, Barry._

"What makes you think that anyone in this room would give you a cent?" The officer, or guard, or whoever he was asked.

"Because." The smile dropped off Jesse's face. "That champagne that just slipped down like so much fruit punch? I added a little something special it. Dry metal mercury 32. Poison!"

Caitlin stared in horror at her cup. Cisco whispered in her ear. "Caitlin.. please tell me you didn't have any of that champagne."

"I had some of that champagne." Caitlin breathed, heart rate ratcheting up. "Oh, gosh..."

"Without the antidote, you will begin to feel the affects in about.. hmm..." Jesse stared at his watch.

"One hour!" Axel called out helpfully.

"Yes, and hour." Jesse agreed, waggling his finger.

At that second, a man fell foreword, foaming at the mouth. "I remember you!" The Trickster said thoughtfully. "You got to the party about an hour early. I offered you the very first glass of champagne."

The man collapsed on the ground, and Caitlin knelt beside him, feeling his pulse point. He was dead.

Caitlin felt lightheaded. "Cisco... what do I do?"

"Barry's on his way. He's getting his dad while they're distracted." Cisco assured her.

"An hour is plenty of time for all of you to call your bankers, and transfer everything you have to the account number on the bottom of your glass. Once my young friend and I are rich, you'll get the antidote." Jesse informed them happily.

Caitlin spoke as quietly as she could into the com. "Guys, you have to make an antidote." She listed a few ingredients from what she knew about the poison, and heard Cisco get up to start making it. She just hopped it would be done in time. Caitlin wasn't sure if it was the stress, or just the idea of the poison in her system, but she began to feel lightheaded. She struggled to keep her cool.

Jesse James himself pushed himself up next to her side. "Well hellooo!" He crooned. "You know, I've been in prison for 20 years."

Caitlin shuddered, and spat, "Then I think you'll know the routine when you go back."

A bolt of lightning shot past her and slammed Jesse into the wall. "Get away from her!" He growled. "And tell me where Henry Allen is."

Caitlin felt weak with relief, but it also meant he couldn't find Henry. "Where you'll be soon." Jesse grinned. "Heaven!"

Axel came up behind Barry and strapped something to his wrist. "If you go under 600 miles per hour, this bomb with explode." Caitlin breath caught in her chest, and she tried to push through the crowd.

A man held her back. "Hey, what are you doing."

"I-" What could she say? In reality, what could she do?

Jesse flicked the activation switch on the bomb, and Barry took off, out of the building. Caitlin had no idea what she could do to help him, and instead tuned back into her com, instructing Cisco on how to make the antidote.

2 stressful, long minutes later, she heard an explosion through the com system. "Barry?" She whispered, knees weak. "Cisco, what happened?"

"He's ok!" Cisco told her. "He, like, phased through a truck!"

She would have to ask him later, because now Barry was back. A bolt of lighting streaked among the crowd, and Caitlin felt a slight prick on her neck. In the next second, the Trickster and his accomplice had been tied up.

Caitlin leaned against the wall. It was over.

 **FLASH!**

As soon as Caitlin got back to STAR Labs, she went looking for Barry. She threw herself at him and squeezed on tightly. He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around. "Never. Never do that again."

"No promises." Caitlin half-laughed, half-sobbed.

Before she had time to think about who might see them, her back was against the wall, and their mouths were engaged in a fierce battle. All thoughts other then how wonderfully wet and warm Barry's mouth felt left her head, and she gave herself up to the feeling up the kiss.

"I would say I'm surprised, but I'm truly not."

Caitlin yanked her mouth away from Barry's and spun. "Dr. Allen!" She shrieked. "This was _not_ the way I wanted you to find out. Oh gosh, I'm so sorry-"

"Dad!" Barry squeaked at the same time. "I didn't- Why are you-"

Henry only laughed. "I had already figured it out, so don't worry too much, Caitlin."

"How did you-?" Barry seemed incapable of making a coherent sentence.

"I don't think he realizes how much he talks about you." Henry rolled his eyes in Caitlin's direction. "Well, I'll leave you two alone to do... whatever you were going to." He winked at his son, smiled at Caitlin, and walked into the Cortex.

"Well. That happened." Barry rubbed his neck, and Caitlin laughed.

"I love your dad, Barry." She grinned. "We should go in, though, in case someone other then he finds us." He followed her into the Cortex, still smiling.

They found Henry in a state of awe. "Wow." He muttered. "Half this stuff didn't even exist when I was practicing."

"Yeah." Cisco looked very pleased. "I'd be happy to give you a crash course on all of it if you get out." Caitlin winced, and Cisco realized what he had said. "I'm gonna shut up now."

"That's ok." Henry laughed.

"Dr. Allen?" Caitlin approached him. "I'm feeling the need to give you a hug."

"Absolutely!" He wrapped her up in his arms. "I will always except a hug." Before she could let him go, he whispered, "Thank you for making my son so happy."

She smiled at him, and left Barry to go talk to his dad. After a few murmured words, Henry turned around. "Actually, you're all heroes, in my book. Especially you, Dr. Wells." He walked over to shake Harrison's hand. "Thank you for saving my son."

"You're son is an extraordinary man, Dr. Allen, and I will do everything in my power to make sure of Barry's future." Wells smiled.

Henry turned back around and gave Barry a tight hug. Caitlin bit her lip to keep from crying, hating that he had to say goodbye to his father. If only it would be legal to keep him here.

With a bit of a goofy smile, Henry held out his hands to Joe. "It's time, Joe."

Joe only shook his head. "No." He lead him instead by the shoulder as they walked out of the Cortex.

Wells was sitting in his chair, but honestly, Caitlin didn't care. She walked up to Barry and gave him a hug. He pressed his face briefly into her shoulder and breathed her in. She smelled like pine and spices, and it calmed him down.

When she pulled away, Caitlin whispered, "Seemed like you could use a hug, too."

Barry watched her go with a wistful look on his face, wishing with all his heart that he hadn't erased the timeline where he had told her those three important words.

Because he loved her more then anything else.

 **Author's Note: Whew! My muses are all tired out.**

 **They are fed by reviews, by the way. *hint hint* And a special thanks to Matthew G Given, who has sent me many a wonderful review. Thank you for you considerate thoughts!**


	18. 1x18

**Author's Note: Do you guys realize that we only have... let's see... 5 more chapters to go, I believe? I'm** ** _so_** **doing season 2 :)**

"Bees." Caitlin muttered. "That's a new one."

"I don't do bees!" Cisco wrinkled his nose. "Aint nobody got time for bees."

"But there were no stingers in the body. And no dead bees in the car." Barry told them.

They were all at STAR Labs, trying, as usually, to figure out a new meta and her powers. "A honey bee can only deposit .1 milligrams of apitoxin when it releases it's stinger."

"And Mrs. Kang was found with enough venom in her sister to kill a herd of elephants." Wells scanned the medical examination up on his screen. "It appears that not only is a metahuman controlling these bees, but she is also increasing their toxicity."

"Bees communicate by releasing pheromones; maybe this meta's controlling them through secretion?" He glanced over at Caitlin, and she shrugged. It was possible.

Cisco grimaced. "Anyone want to join me in getting a bee keepers suit?"

"I'm pretty sure I can outrun a bee." Barry assured him with a smirk.

"Just don't run into a lake." A familiar, feminine voice said from the doorway. Caitlin started to grin. Felicity Smoak was back at STAR Labs. "They'll wait for you to come up for air and then they'll sting you. On discovery channel it turns out there's a _lot_ to discover."

Caitlin waved at her old friend, but Barry looked slightly less excited. "Felicity.. what are you doing here?"

"Can you guys come outside?" Was she avoiding the question? Barry raised an eyebrow, but he shrugged, and all of them filled out.

It was chilly outside, and Caitlin was starting to wonder how long whatever Felicity had planned was going to take. She checked her watch. They needed to get back to this meta. Harrison voiced her thoughts. "What exactly are we waiting for, Miss Smoak?"

"Up there!" Felicity finger shot towards the sky.

"Is that a bird?" Caitlin wrinkled her noise, trying to see the shape against the dark clouds.

"It's a plane." Cisco contradicted.

It was not a bird or a plane. A man in a metal suit crashed down from the sky and landed heavily, cracking the pavement. "It's my boyfriend." Felicity told them with a grin.

The helmet came off, and the man underneath grinned. "Hi!" He waved. "I'm Ray."

Barry's gaze said the same thing that she was thinking. _Oh dear..._

 **Flash!**

"I'm too late." Barry told them over the com. Caitlin's heart sank. She felt for the man, now dead because of the bee's toxins, but she also knew that Barry was going to take this as hard as he took all of the other deaths they experienced. Which was very, _very_ hard.

"Where are the bees?" Cisco asked, staying more on topic.

"I don't know. There's no sign of them." A long pause. Then, "Found them."

Caitlin leapt out of her chair. "Barry, don't let them sting you!"

"Yeah, that would be preferable!" He snarked. They watched his tracker speed around the building. "Uh, how do I get out of here?!"

"Take the East Wing. It's the quickest way out of the building."

They saw his dot move towards that wing, and then stop. "Guys!" He yelled. "They're everywhere! I'm surrounded!"

Caitlin bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood. "Barry!" She cried. "Guys, his vitals are down. He's flat lining." The world tilted for a moment. "We have to _do_ something!"

Cisco's phone rang. "It's Joe." He pressed the speaker phone, and Joe's frantic voice filled the air.

"CISCO! Barry doesn't have pulse."

"Step away from him!" Cisco commanded. "We need to jumpstart his heart. There's a defibrillator in his suit." He raced over to his computer, and frantically began to type.

"Charge it to 300 hundred jewels." Caitlin commanded Harrison.

He clicked a button on his computer. "Charging in 3-2-1."

Caitlin stared lasers at Barry's vitals as they rapidly spikes. But all too soon, they had flat lined again. "Try it again!" Her voice shook. All of her was shaking. "400 jewels!"

Cisco wrapped his hands behind his head, jaw tight with anxiety. Wells clicked the button again.

Nothing happened for the longest moment Caitlin had ever felt. Then Barry's vitals shot up. She could hear him coughing over the com.

Her knees buckled, and she sat down in her chair, hard. Cisco breathed a sigh of relief, and Ray, who was standing in front of their desks, grinned. "Well _that's_ a relief."

As soon as Barry got back to STAR Labs, Caitlin punched him in the chest. "Ow!" He yelped.

" _Never_ do that again. Never never never!"

He caught her fists and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry."

Cisco walked over and she pulled back, avoiding eye contact with her best friend. He didn't seem to notice. "That is it for the defibrillator. It is completely fried."

"You're lucky to be alive Mr. Allen." Harrison sounded upset, but also extremely relieved.

"I was very specific that you _not die_." Felicity hissed.

Caitlin felt kind of bad for Barry, who had collapsed into a chair and was staring guiltily at his feet. "Cisco." He asked. "What happened out there. I followed your directions exactly."

"I'm sorry." Cisco looked miserable. "I led you the wrong way. The schematics that we had, they, um, weren't up to date."

"They weren't up to date, what? That's never happened before."

Felicity swayed from side to side a little, a teasing smile on her face. "What; you think Cisco was trying to get you killed?"

There was an awkward silence. Caitlin glanced up from her tablet where she was scanning Barry's blood, frowning. "No!" He said finally. "No, why- why would he do that?"

Felicity squinted at him. "That's why I was joking."

Barry laughed nervously, and Caitlin cleared her throat. "Uh, good news: The antitoxin is out of your body. You are back to normal." She sent him a glance. _We will talk about this later_.

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief. "Terrific." The next second and he was standing behind the desks, dressed in a suit. "Alright, Felicity. We're gonna be late for dinner."

Caitlin was pulled up short. "Dinner?" She asked, feeling hurt settle in her stomach.

"Are you sure that's wise, Barry." Harrison, not exactly reading her thoughts, but thinking that's what was on her face, said.

"You just _died_." Caitlin snapped. Why was it that every time Felicity came to Central City, she was pushed to the side? She wasn't mad at Felicity; no, she really _liked_ Felicity. But if Barry thought- she cut herself off and broke eye contact with him.

"Maybe you should order in tonight?" Cisco suggested.

"Yeah!" Ray agreed. "We can totally cancel." Oh. So he was going too. That was a relief.

Barry shook his head. "I'm fine! Alive. Hungry. Alright? Let's go."

He turned, and walked out the door. Ray and Felicity shrugged at each other and followed. "That was weird." Cisco muttered.

"Yeah." Caitlin agreed, stung. "Why didn't we get invited to dinner?" She refrained from saying 'I', because Cisco would probably assume correctly, and Caitlin _still_ hadn't figured out how to tell him.

2 minutes later, however, she got a text from Barry. _Hey, r u coming, too? I can ask Iris if it's ok._

She glanced at Cisco. _That would leave Cisco out. Why can't we both come?_

There was a long pause. _I want to tell them about us._

 _Tonight?!_

 _Yeah._

Caitlin sighed heavily. "Cisco, I'm going to head home, ok?"

"Oh.. Alright." He seemed disappointed. "See you later?"

She felt bad lying to him, but posted on a smile. "Yeah. See you later."

 **Flash!**

( **Author's Note: So, yeah, I'm adding her to the scene. You know, I almost didn't. I was planning to, and then I saw how he was behaving, and how she reacted, and I was considering making her a bit mad, and not agreeing to come. But then I remembered that I had planned for them to tell Felicity, Ray, Iris and Eddie in this episode so... Yeah. It kind of had to happen. And anyway, she wasn't going to be in the episode enough otherwise)**

Caitlin did an ultra quick change, and tossed her hair into something that resembled a nice style. She threw on a pair of navy blue flats that matched her dress, grabbed her phone, and ran out the door.

A honking horn startled her. Ray leaned out of a beautiful, black, probably crazy expensive car. "Hey, Caitlin!" He chirped, beaming at her. "Barry said you're his plus one. Get in!"

She glanced around her uncomfortably, not wanting any of her neighbors to see her getting into such a nice car. The talk that would come out of that... But Ray was still grinning at her, and she couldn't just refuse. And anyway, if Barry and Felicity were in the car, then she might as well get it.

Barry smiled at her when she slid into the backseat beside him. "Hi. I'm glad you decided to come."

"You should have invited Cisco." She scolded, but her heart wasn't in it. Cisco might feel left out, but it was nice to have some time with Barry without him around. "So.. did you tell them?"

He lowered his voice to match hers. "I figured we'd do it at dinner. You know, if there's a toast or something, I can say, 'I want to thank my beautiful girlfriend Caitlin for being awesome', or something like that."

Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "Um.. how about _I_ do the talking for this one. Ok?" Barry shrugged, but he didn't argue, so Caitlin took that as the go ahead.

Ray and Barry both held a door open for the girls, and they rolled their eyes at each other as they walked into the restaurant. "Ok, I get that it's gentlemanly and all, but I have been opening my own door for many years; I think I've got it handled by now." Felicity muttered, and Caitlin laughed. 

"Hey guys!" Felicity called over to Eddie and Iris, who were both seated at the dinner table already. "Wow Iris, check you out!"

Iris laughed and gave both the girl a hug. "Hey, Caitlin."

"Hi, Iris." Caitlin smiled. "You look great."

Felicity introduced Ray, and soon they were all seated around the table, drinking wine and looking at menus.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Eddie asked Felicity and Ray.

Ray beamed, a natural resting face for him, it seemed. "I bought out the company where Felicity worked, so she was forced to join me at Palmer Tech."

Felicity winced, and quickly added. "It's not as creepy as it sounds."

"So, Caitlin, were's Cisco?" Iris asked the brunet.

Caitlin blinked for a second. "Um... he's at STAR Labs right now. Why?"

"I just noticed that you weren't here with him." Iris said innocently. "And if you, I don't know, pair everyone here up, it turns you and Barry into a couple." Oh, she was good. There was an awkward silence for a moment.

After a quick exchanged look with Barry, Caitlin took a deep breath. "That is because... that's because Barry and I _are_ a couple."

Another silence followed that declaration, this one completely shocked. Iris was had a smug look on her face, though, and Caitlin got the impression that she had already figured it out.

Eddie grinned at Barry. "Dude!" He cried. "I never would have guessed. That's so great. When did you start dating?"

Another exchanged glance. Barry rubbed his neck. "Um... we went on our first date to see Simon Stagg's presentation..."

Iris sat up straighter. "But- but that was _forever_ ago! Why didn't you tell me? Who else knows?"

"Joe." Whispered Caitlin. "And it never seemed like the right time to say anything. We really are sorry."

Felicity smiled at her. "It's ok, Caitlin. Ray and I did the same thing at first. Well, we hid it from Oliver. Not that Oliver has any special reason of _why_ we would hide our relationship from him. Obviously."

Iris still looked hurt. Barry looked up. "Oh, thank goodness, it's the food!"

And there it was. That diffused the tension in the air for a moment, which Caitlin found very nice indeed. She had known that telling them would end like this, and their hiding had just gone on more and more... and now she also knew that they should have had told them in the first place.

Barry reached under the table and squeezed her hand, hard. She squeezed back.

"Barry." Ray spoke up as their dishes were set down. "I envy you, spending so much time at STAR Labs. Dr. Wells is a personal hero of mine. I mean, it's amazing just being in the same room as him."

Ray babbled on, but Caitlin saw Barry's face fall. He didn't look at her, and she wondered worriedly what was up. Was it a medical problem? Maybe from the bee stings? It didn't seem likely, but maybe she should run some tests, just in case.

"Uh, yeah!" Barry's face was strained as he looked up. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be right back, just excuse me." He let go of Caitlin hand abruptly, leaving it feeling empty and cold.

"Well.. I," Felicity stood up as well. "Um, have to pee." She followed Barry out of the room, and Caitlin stared after her, wanting to go as well.

What was up with her boyfriend?

 **Flash!**

When Barry and Caitlin got back to STAR Labs, after a ruined dinner with no actual food involved, Cisco looked very upset. "THE BEEEEEEEE!" He yelled at her, beginning to hyperventilate. "IT WAS STILL ALIVE!"

"Cisco!" She cried. "Calm down. Are you hurt? Did you get stung?"

"No.." He mumbled, staring at his feet. Then he perked up. "But I _did_ find something out about the bee!"

He led them to the microscope. There lay the bee, encased in a glass cup. "It's a robot." Cisco told them.

"No way..." Caitlin flicked her hair out of her eyes, and Barry watched it's progress, shimmering and flowing over her shoulder, which looked so soft and white, and now he wanted to kiss her _really_ badly-

"This is so cool." Cisco muttered, staring at his computer screen. "This bot's got a 360 degree vision system. I mean, we're talking multiple micro cameras, all coming from various angles at the same time. Which means-"

"It can see all around the room. At once." Ray finished. "That is-"

"Amazing." Both tech whizzes said together.

Caitlin exchanged a small smirk with Barry. "Disturbing." She corrected them.

"So.." Felicity realized. "This isn't a meta human."

"It's just a mad scientist." Barry agreed. He leaned back in his chair, eyes still distant and sort of sad. Caitlin wanted to talk to him; to find out what was wrong, but she hadn't had the chance yet.

"Cisco, you said the second victim, Bill Carlisle? Was a robotics engineer? Let's cross-reference him with the name Lindsey Kang." Harrison instructed, and Cisco leaned towards his computer.

Felicity jumped over. "Allow me!" She sank into a chair. "Mama's been away from a keyboard for _far_ too long."

The two victims pictures appeared on the screen in seconds, and Felicity sat back, triumphant. "They both worked at Mercury Labs." Barry frowned.

"Let's call Joe." Harrison instructed, wheeling his chair away from the desk. "I think it's time we paid a visit to an old friend."

 **Flash!**

Cisco turned around to face Ray and Caitlin, and she saw his face a second before he collapsed. A small bee buzzed away.

Caitlin bit back a scream and he fell over on his side. "Cisco!" She followed her best friend to the pavement and began to apply pressure to his chest. "Come on, please. Wake up."

Turning away from the van with a com in his hand, Ray strode back over to them. "Cisco's been stung; he's going into shock."

"I'm on my way!" Just the sound of Barry's voice got Caitlin to take a deep breath and focus on her patient. There would be time for freaking out later.

Barry slid to her side a second later. "Hold on, back up." He instructed, and she knelt back, shaking. "I'm gonna try something." His hands became two blurs of speed, lightning crackling between them. Caitlin didn't like what he was about to do, but they didn't have time to drive Cisco to STAR Labs, or the nearest defibrillator.

Placing his hands on Cisco chest, Barry zapped him, and Cisco flopped like a dead fish on the pavement. There was a long tense silence where nothing happened, and Caitlin started to cry.

Then Cisco gasped and opened his eyes. Barry helped him up, and Caitlin placed her hand on his shoulder. "Either my fear of bees is over," Cisco muttered. "Or it just got a _lot_ worse."

Caitlin laughed, and gave her friend a hug from the side. Barry smiled. "Cisco, you're a hero."

The look on his face could have made even the most cold hearted person melt. Caitlin smiled at Barry, glad that he was back to trusting his friend again.

 **Flash!**

"Alright, alright!" Cisco called as he and Caitlin strode into Barry's lab together. "Who's ready for some karaoke!" He sang the last bit, and Caitlin sent him a fond smile. The two of them had been practically inseparable since Cisco had nearly died, but she was ready to got have some fun with her other best friend.. and boyfriend.

Her smile faded, however, as they got farther into the room. Barry was sitting on the edge of his desk, and a bulletin board covered with notes and newspaper clippings were in front of him. "We are not going to karaoke, are we?" Caitlin asked.

Barry offered her a tiny smile and shook his head. "No. Um, this is everything we know about my mothers murder and the Reverse Flash. I've been gathering information on it for a long time. She wanted to give him a hug. He looked like he needed one.

"And this," He pulled down another screen. "Is everything we know about Dr. Wells."

Caitlin pulled up short. Why had Barry been doing research about Wells? Suddenly, though, his behavior made sense. He froze up whenever he was around his old mentor, or whenever anyone talked about him. "I- I don't understand." Barry gazed at her, hating the look on her face. "What do Dr. Wells and the Reverse Flash have to do with each other?"

"Uh..." Barry glanced behind him at Joe, who was sitting silently at the window. "They're the same person."

"That's impossible." Caitlin tried to control it, but her voice cracked a little. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Caitlin, it took me a _long_ time to believe it, too." Barry came a little closer, touched her arm. "It's him."

She hated herself, but she drew away. "Dr. Wells is a speedster? He paralyzed."

"Is he, though?" Joe asked her gently, speaking up for the first time.

"And why would he kill Barry's mother?" She shrugged, her eyes pleading with Barry's to think with some sort of logic. "It doesn't make any sense."

Caitlin noticed that Cisco had been strangely silent this whole time. "Cisco! Say something."

To her surprise, her friend didn't immediately jump to his boss' defense. "I've been having these dreams. Mostly at nights, but sometimes during the day." Caitlin mouth was dry, and her hands were trembling. "But- they don't really feel like dreams. They feel real."

Barry glanced behind him at Joe. "What happens in the dream?"

"Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash." Cisco said. "And... he kills me."

 **Author's Note: So, yeah, sorry 'bout that. I understand that there wasn't much good Snowbarry in this one.**

 **But the next one... ooh, I'm excited for it very much indeed! Which is** ** _totally_** **proper grammar :)**


	19. 1x19

**Author's Note: We are BACK! Anyone else excited for this one?**

"Starling City, baby!" Cisco reached over and clinked beer bottles with Joe.

"Joe and Cisco are going to Starling City." Barry explained, tilting his head back to look at Caitlin, who was standing behind the couch he was one.

"Starling City? What for?" Caitlin wrinkled her nose, confused.

"To investigate the car accident that Dr. Wells was in with Tess Morgan 15 years ago." Joe said.

"I don't understand; why?"

Barry reached over Eddie for another slice of pizza. "Dr. McGee said that after Well's accident he became like a complete stranger. A different person entirely."

"Because the love of his life died?" Caitlin suggested. She was angry, though not exactly sure why, or at who. All of this was just so sudden and confusing, and nobody else but her seemed to have any problem excepting it. Even Cisco, who had found out at the _same time_ as she did. "You of all people can understand how grief can change a person."

Barry looked like he wanted to protest, but Joe beat him to it. "Caitlin." He said. "We believe that Dr. Wells in the Reverse Flash, and that he killed Barry's mother. He may have done the same thing to Tess Morgan." Caitlin broke eye contact. "We have to learn everything we can about that night. See where it leads us."

"Uh.." Cisco broke in, eyes round with pleading innocence. "Can you cover for me with Dr. Wells?"

"You mean lie?" Suddenly, everyone in the room got very interested in anything that wasn't her. She placed her hands on her hips, even more upset.

"Ye-e-e-e-ah?" Cisco squeaked.

Caitlin shook her head and turned toward the door. She felt dizzy, suddenly, and like the entire world was falling around her shoulders. "I need some air." She whispered.

She honestly didn't care what they thought of her. They could think her weak; unable to stand up for the right thing, but, really? This was so _stupid_. It was Harrison Wells, the man that had saved Barry, and then Ronnie, and so many other people, and never asked for anything in return, expect for their trust. And now what were they doing? Caitlin honestly wasn't sure what this was about, anymore.

"Caitlin!" Barry called after her, but she was already out the door.

 **Flash!**

A cup of coffee appeared in front of her, but Caitlin had already heard Barry arrive. "Good morning." He said softly.

"Hey." She didn't look up. Caitlin hadn't spoken, or even seen Barry since their "secret meeting" the night before, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"Uh, look, can we talk about last night?"

She stood abruptly, moving away from him and his beautiful, sad eyes. "There's nothing to talk about."

He didn't take the hint that she didn't want to talk about it, and followed her. "Yeah, there is. Cait- Caitlin. I know that after everything Dr. Wells has done for us, it's hard to wrap your head around this, but I need you to see the truth."

Picking up her tablet from the table, Caitlin whipped around to face him, face flushing as she got angrier. "Truth?! The truth is that he saved your life _multiple_ times."

"Look, I know." He was still following her, and pretty soon she was going to say something she regretted. "If I'm right about this-"

"If, Barry, if!" She slammed her tablet on the table. "And before I'm going to believe any of this, I'm going to need to see some proof."

"Proof?" They both turned around, and there was none other then Dr. Harrison Wells, looking up at them from his wheelchair. How could he be the Reverse Flash? "Proof of what?"

Caitlin's mind went completely blank, but Barry jumped in quickly. "We, uh, we may have another meta-human case on our hands." He lied.

"We are always happy to help, Barry, as you know." Wells smiled, and Caitlin shot a look at Barry. _See? How could you suspect him of being something so evil?_

He turned to Caitlin. "Have you heard from Cisco?"

"Uh... He has to help Dante, his brother. He.. might need a few days off." She felt awful, lying to the man that had helped her though so much, but the relieved look Barry sent her made it worth it.

Then it made her mad. Did he really think that she was going to give them all away? She might not believe all of what Joe and Barry had speculated, but she didn't _not_ believe it, either.

Wells wheeled away, leaving the two of them alone. "Caitlin..." Barry murmured, and leant down to kiss her.

She felt like an awful person, but she looked away so that his lips connected with her forehead instead. "I'm sorry, Barry." She whispered. "I just need some more time."

( **A.N: Alright, there's your little bit on angst. It will resolve, I promise :)**

 **Flash!**

After they had figured out who the meta really was- Hannibal Bates-, Caitlin felt really bad about everything she had been doing lately. Not because they found the meta, no, more because of how nice Dr. Wells was being. To her, to Barry, about everything.

It scared her a little. It was almost like he somehow _knew_. Like he knew what they were up to, and was trying to guilt trip her. Well, it was working. She found herself in front of Well's front door, her fist raised, ready to enter.

Her finger was trembling as she raised it. She realized that her whole body was shaking, with anticipation, or nerves, or even fear. Then she pressed the button.

In that short moment before Wells answered the door, Caitlin thought about a lot of things. She thought about her brother, Ronnie, and how Wells had come up with a device that had saved his life. She thought about how Wells had saved Barry's life, and brought one of the most important people into her world. She thought about all the other people her boss had saved: Metas, civilians... her.

The door began to open, and then Caitlin was flashed away. She gasped, feeling the speed electricity buzz around her, and pressed her face briefly into Barry's shoulder.

As soon as he had put her down, however, she pulled away, and stared at him angrily. "Wha- are you _spying_ on me now?!"

Barry had the grace to look ashamed, but he kept her gaze. "Caitlin, what were you doing at Wells' house?"

She ran her fingers through her hair, now windblown. "I was going to talk to him and get some answers of my own."

Barry whipped around to face her, and she drew back. His face was angrier then she had ever seen in. "You can't! You cannot talk to him."

Feeling guilty, then feeling mad about feeling guilty, Caitlin snapped back. "Oh, so I'm just supposed to stand by and watch you all ruin this man's life?! Or my life?"

As her voice cracked, all the fight seemed to just drain out of Barry. His eyebrows scrunched together. "What're you talking about your life."

"Those 9 months that you were in a coma... were the worst of my life." She felt tears spring into her eyes, but she tried desperately to hold them back, at least until she was done talking. "I lost my reputation, my _brother_ , and through all of that, Harrison Wells stood by my side. He told me everything was gonna be ok. If Dr. Wells is the man you say he is, everything I've done since the minute I stepped through STAR Labs has been a lie."

She had to stop, because she had started to cry. Barry placed his palm to her cheek, and she leaned into his touch, something she hadn't felt in what felt like a long time. "Caitlin..." He murmured. "If I am right about all of this, and you tell him what's been going on, I'll never be able to get my dad out of prison."

"Barry.."

"If not for me, just- just do it for him."

Her lips twisted into something that resembled a smile at that. "I can't believe you're pulling the dad card."

He shrugged helplessly. Then his kissed her, passionately, but gently, enfolding her in his arms so all she could breathe in was him. Her Barry Allen.

 **Flash!**

 **(A.N: Just to fill you in, Barry is now Hannibal. Just in case you didn't remember what scene that change happened in)**

Caitlin shifted outside of Barry's door, and rang the doorbell. She waited for a second, then pushed open the door. "Barry, it's me!"

He was standing a few feet in front of the door, looking uncomfortable, like he had suddenly decided he didn't fit in his own body. "Hello... you."

His gaze wandered up and down her body, and for a moment Caitlin felt extremely self conscious. She shook it off, and said, "I think I've figured out a way to stop our shape-shifter from morphing into other people."

"Oh really."

"What if I create a serum that could terminate the puliminerzation reaction, and essentially forcing the cells to revert to their original form, stopping him from being able to control his power." She shrugged and tilted her head, waiting for his response.

He was still looking at her oddly. "You can... do that?"

"Yeah, I think so." She moved towards the door, and Barry followed closely behind.

"Ok."

Caitlin frowned. "What's wrong with you?" He was acting super weird, and it was starting to make her nervous. Was he mad at her because she had almost told Wells about what they were doing?

"Uh, nothing." His gaze shifted, and Caitlin sighed quietly.

"Look." It was hard to know what to say when she didn't know what was wrong, but she would do her best. "About last night: I can't imagine how hard this must be for you. I know how desperate you are to solve your mom's murder. But let's just burry the hatchet and go back to STAR Labs," She laid a hand on his arm and he glanced down at it like it was green and covered with slime. She picked it back up. "And let's figure out how to stop this Everyman."

"Everyman?" Barry blinked.

"Bad nickname?" She wrinkled her nose, trying to figure out if he forgave her.

"No." He started to smile, and she saw a bit of the old Barry in his eyes. "No, I kinda like it."

"Good! Me too."

They walked to her car, and Caitlin drove Barry to STAR Labs. He probably would have offered just to take her there, but her car was already at his house, and it would of been kind of a pain to go back later to get it.

She walked into her lab, and began to work on the serum. Barry had wandered off with anther weird batch of muttering, but he soon entered her workspace. "Hey." She greeted, taking the nearly complete vial of meta-stopping potion in her hand. "Good to go. Just need to give it a little spin."

Barry turned around to face her, a strange smile on his face, and she looked at him expectantly. "Oh!" He realized, moving aside. "Right."

She shook her head fondly and placed the vial in the spinner. Barry leaned on the table. "So this, uh, serum that you're making: Is it a temporary fix, or will it take away his power permanently?"

"Not permanently." Caitlin confirmed, working the machine in front of her. "Just long enough so that we can stop him."

"And, uh," Barry continued. "How long is it going to take?"

"Not long. We just need-" She picked up her finished vials and turned to find Barry's face centimeters from her own. "What're you doing?" She glanced nervously around the lab, waiting for someone to come in and discover them.

Practically running to the other side of the room, trying to stop the feeling of how much she wanted to kiss him, Caitlin set her stuff down on the table. Barry followed her. "Something I think I should have done," He grabbed her elbow and spun her dramatically into his arms. "A long time ago."

His lips descended on hers, and her eyes bugged out. Not so much because of the kiss; they had done that before plenty times, even here at STAR Labs. No, it was more because of what his _hands_ were doing.

They had talked about taking their relationship to a... more intimate level, and had decided that they would wait until they were completely ready. Caitlin wasn't sure if that meant after they got married, or something else, but she was perfectly fine with the decision.

But now, Barry's hands were slipping placed where they had never gone before; up her shirt, past her waistline, and she needed to know why. She placed her hands on his shoulders and removed her mouth from his. "Barry- I-"

He cut her off with his mouth, and she lost all resistance. He kissed her until she felt like she was melting, her legs left all trembly, and her insides tight as bowstrings. She wasn't sure how far he actually would have gone when a beeping from the elevator camera interrupted them.

Caitlin ripped her mouth from Barry's and glanced over. "Oh my gosh..." She wobbled over to the screen. It was Iris. "Look who's here!"

"Yes. Her." Barry mumbled, and his hand crept once again to places where it shouldn't have.

She straightened abruptly and walked away from him, her resolve _so_ close to the breaking point that she wasn't sure that it was actually there anymore. She walked out of her lab, Barry close behind her, and Iris came power-walking into the Cortex.

"Hi, I've been looking for you everywhere!" Iris told Barry.

"Here I am." Barry grinned that unusual grin, and Caitlin glanced between the two of them, wonder what was up.

"Look, who ever's framing Eddie, I got to thinking, what if they've done something like this before?" Iris said, seemingly having read her mind. "I went through CCPN's crime archives, and in the last 11 months there have been 6 crimes done by people who later swore that they were innocent. None of them had priors. All of them have rock solid alibis."

"Alright.."

"So," Iris walked over to Cisco's computer layout. "I hacked into my dad's CCPD account, and went through the footage of Eddie shooting these cops. Look." She played the video, which showed Eddie Thawn brutally shooting two cops in the chest.

Barry and Caitlin glanced at each other, not sure where this was going. "I don't know. Seems pretty convincing." Barry shrugged.

"Look again." Iris replayed the video. "Eddie is not left handed. Look, Eddie is being framed, and we need to figure out who's behind this. And believe me, when I get my hands on them, they are going to be-"

Suddenly there was a sizzling sound, and Barry's entire body straightened and jerked. Caitlin whipped around. Wells was sitting in his wheelchair with a _taser_ in his hands! She was too shocked to move.

"What?!" Iris gasped in shock. "What did you do?"

"You're observations about the shooter were spot on, Ms. West." Wells lowered the taser, and Caitlin's heart rate diminished to something slightly more normal. "He was indeed left handed. As is this man. Our Barry is right handed."

Wells gestured to Barry, lying on the floor. Realization hit Caitlin like a bucket of ice water. "Ugh, I knew it!" Both Wells and Iris turned to stare at her, and she turned red. "Never mind."

"This is him." Iris breathed.

"It is indeed."

"I need to take him to the police. If they can see what he can do, then maybe they'll let Eddie go." Iris glared at both of them, daring them to argue.

Caitlin, at the moment, only had one thought. "If this is Hannibal... where's the real Barry?"

 **Flash!**

Caitlin raced through Joe and Barry's shared house, frantically calling his name. After her startling revelation back at STAR Labs, she had been feeling slightly sick with dread. What if Barry was dead? Or hurt so badly that he couldn't leave where ever he was being held captive?

"Barry!" She yelled, her 'what ifs' become more and more awful as she ripped open the closet door.

And there he was, simply unconscious, with duct tape across his mouth and binding his wrists. Relief coursed through her, then anger at making her _worry so much_ , and she slapped him across the face.

Barry sat up with a gasp, and Caitlin ripped the tape off of his lips. "For real? Why did you slap me?"

"Because you were unconscious!" She snapped, unbinding his wrists.

"Smelling salts works just as well." He muttered.

She fisted her fingers into his button down shirt and slammed her mouth into his, needing to get the taste of Hannibal out of her mouth, and also because he was alive, again, and perfectly fine.

He pulled away first, his eyes deadly serious. "Caitlin, wait, Bates, he was here."

"Yes." She started to smile, because it was all so ridiculous when you looked back on it. "He seemed to have taken a liking to me right away."

"What did he do?!" Barry's face went dark, like and extinguished candle, and Caitlin quickly laid her hand on his arm.

"It's alright!" She soothed. "He just kissed me. And, you know, um..."

"I'm going to kill him." Barry growled. "Nobody gets to do that."

"But you?"

"Yes." Barry crossed his arms and frowned.

"Ok, Mr. Protective." Caitlin smirked, pressing her lips briefly to his again. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Barry snapped out of it, and she helped him to his feet. "Yeah, let's go."

 **Flash!**

So, she had not been distracted by how absolutely adorable Barry was wearing a baseball cap. Not at all. But, jeeze, he looked good in _everything_ , and she had never seen him in a hat like that before, and he was really, _really_ cute!

But now she really did have to focus, because Barry was hunting down Bates at the airport they had pinged Barry's cellphone at. "Guys, are we sure he's at the airport?" Barry's voice filtered through the slightly buzzy speakerphone of Caitlin's cell.

"According to the GPS on your phone, he's there." Wells assured him.

"Yeah, but, he could be any of these people." Barry insisted, and Caitlin could hear the frown in his voice. "I'm not seeing him."

Suddenly, the call ended. Caitlin glanced up from her work, and tried to see if she could hack into some sort of airport camera system to see what was going on. Barry, not in his Flash suit, couldn't communicate with them without using a normal phone to do it.

She didn't get far before Barry's com beeped on. "Hannibal Bates!" He yelled, and Caitlin sat back in her chair, fingers crossed that her solution would work.

"I think you've mistaken me for someone else." Hannibal said.

Then Caitlin heard her voice. She blinked. "Wait, it's me. Please don't hurt me." The Hannibal-Caitlin insisted.

The real Caitlin leaned toward the com. "Barry, it's not me! I'm right here, and you doing anything to Hannibal isn't going to hurt me!"

Barry yelped, and Caitlin jumped away, blood boiling. How _dare_ that stupid meta use her to distract her boyfriend! If she got her hands on that phony, she wasn't sure what she would do.

There were a few grunts over the com, and the body scan coming from Barry's suit showed Caitlin that he was getting slammed around a bit. A few more sounds, from both sides, and then. "Well look at that. I'm the Flash."

Wells leaned forward, face drawn. "That is not good."

"Barry?" Caitlin whispered.

"Yeah." Barry breathed. "The one and only."

 **Flash!**

A little bit later and they were in the Pipeline, with a screaming Hannibal-Iris banging on the walls. "Let me OUT!" Then she -he- shifted, and turned into Caitlin. "Hey, cutie. Wanna let me out?"

Barry glanced down at Caitlin, close to his side, and smirked. She smiled up at him. "Like anyone is going to fall for that."

"Well, I'm going to lock up shop." Harrison said with a nod to both of them. "Goodnight, everyone."

The smile faded off of Caitlin's face as he left the room. "What about Dr. Wells?"

"Come here." Barry took her hand, and led her out of the Pipeline. "I need to show you something."

He flashed to his lab, and they walked through the doors to find Joe and Cisco already there. In front of them, on the examination table, was a body. It was decayed and partially dissolved, and she felt Barry take her hand and squeeze it, hard.

"Look, Caitlin." Cisco led her over to his computer layout. "It's- It's Wells."

"This isn't possible." Caitlin breathed, staring at the computer screen.

"Human." Cisco was sad to inform her. "I ran tests. It's a perfect match."

"This body is the real Harrison Wells." Joe sighed, moving toward the table.

The rest of them followed. "If this is Dr. Wells, who have we been working with this whole time?" Caitlin couldn't believe that this was happening; that everything that Barry had said was true.

"Dr. McGee said that after the accident, Wells became a completely different person." Barry murmured. "It's because he _is_ a different person."

Before long, they meta fighting trio had made their way back to STAR Labs' Cortex. Cisco scanned the building, looking for something, _anything_ , to tell them more about this stranger they had thought they knew.

To everyone's surprise, Cisco found something. "What is that?" Caitlin asked, staring at a small red section of STAR Labs' plans.

"That," Cisco leaned back. "Shouldn't be there." They all raced out of the Cortex, and Cisco began to scan the walls with apparently the same machine he and Joe had used when they found Wells' body. "I'm picking up more activity around her." Cisco said, stopping in front of a panel of wall. "Tachyons."

Barry ghosted his hands over the section of wall, and it opened up with a hiss. Caitlin's eyes bulged out of her head, and they all walked inside.

The wall shut behind them, and they were left in almost total darkness. Then a stand in the wall lit up.

Inside was the Reverse Flash's suit.

 **Author's Note: Ok, few things about this.**

 **1: I have decided that I LOVE hearing Caitlin's thoughts on this! So fun and exciting.**

 **2: I realized that I haven't been putting many Snowbarry kisses in, so I put a lot in this. Sorry if it was a bit much. I really need to find a happy medium :P**

 **3: Also! I was planning on Cisco finding out in this episode! But then I remembered that he wasn't really in it, so I decided that I would just wait until it felt natural. And, darn it, this episode had enough in it already!**

 **4: You guys are great, I've gotten soooo many wonderful reviews, so thank you for all your support!**


	20. 1x20

**Author's Note: Do you guys realize we only have** ** _3 chapters left_** **?! I think after that I will take a little break, write some other stuff, and then I'll start on season 2. Sound good?**

 **This is picking up right where we left off.**

Caitlin turned slowly at Barry's muttered words of, "Guys... you have to see this." She and Cisco moved to his side, and stared up at a newspaper article hanging on the wall.

 _FLASH MISSING! VANISHES IN CRISIS_

"What the heck?" Cisco muttered.

"Speedster disappeared in an explosion of light?" Barry read quietly.

"Barry." Caitlin voice was soft and shaky. "Look at the date."

"April 25, 20... 24." Barry shook his head, trying to clear it. "Guys, when I fought the Reverse Flash at Christmas, he said we'd be fighting for centuries."

"Wait." Caitlin took a step closer to his side, suddenly feeling very scared. "You can't really think that this is from.. the future."

"Guys.. this is so trippy." Cisco murmured, rubbing his head.

"Look at the byline." Caitlin pointed. "It was written by Iris."

Then Gideon appeared, and the whole deal got more confusing. If Caitlin was following right, which she might not have been, given how crazy her week had been, Barry had _made_ Gideon. In the future. And Gideon was under his command, or something like that. Barry asked Gideon a few questions, about Wells, and why he had done everything.

Then Cisco sensor went off, and everything got a whole lot worse. "Guys!" He cried. "Wells is in the building."

"How do you know that?" Caitlin asked, heart pounding.

"I may have sort of put a tracker on his wheelchair." Cisco admitted, a slightly guilty look on his face. "But, hey, he tried to kill me, so.." Cisco glanced at his machine again. "Barry, ask questions fast; Wells is in the Cortex."

"Wh- why did he kill Nora Allen?" Barry questioned quickly.

"For you to become the Flash." Gideon responded, and Barry frowned, his face showing his confusion.

"Maybe that's why he made the particle accelerator explode. So you could become the Flash." Caitlin guessed, trying to piece everything together.

"Why? I mean, for what reason?" He looked so lost, so she took his hand.

"Guys, we gotta go!" Cisco ordered, panicked. "Wells is almost here."

"Barry.." Caitlin pleaded. He nodded and followed her to the door.

"Wait a second." Cisco stopped them. "What if she tells Wells we were in here?"

"That would be bad."

"Hey, Gideon!" Barry tried. "Could you, uh, not Wells that we were here?"

The AI nodded. "Of course. I will except any command given to me by you."

"Barry!" Caitlin yelled. He raced over to the two of them, picked them up, and flashed out of the time vault, just as Wells was coming around the corner.

 **Flash!**

Barry invited Cisco and Caitlin over to his house, so that they could fill in Joe, and talk about their next step. Caitlin greeted the older man with a smile and a hug, and sat down on the couch next to Barry. "Hey, before Cisco gets here, I think we should take."

He looked nervous. "Wait, why? You aren't, you know, breaking up with me, right?"

She laughed. "No!" Then she bit her lip. "Barry, I think that we should tell him."

"Huh? Tell Wells? Why?"

"No." Caitlin repeated. "We should tell Cisco. About us."

He was silent for a long moment, but then he kissed her forehead. "Yeah. Yeah, we should."

Cisco came in after that, and Barry stood up. "So, um, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you guys, which I probably should have done a long time ago. It's been more relevant lately, now that time travel has come into play. I.. kinda... already time traveled by accident."

Caitlin leaned back in the couch and watched Joe's eyebrows slowly raise on his forehead. She was surprised that he hadn't told his father. He had told her. Granted.. she _had_ kind of pushed him on it.

"What?" Joe stared blankly at Barry.

"I was running to try and stop a tsunami from hitting the city-"

"When was this?" Cisco wrinkled his nose.

"A few weeks ago." Barry stuck his hands in his back pockets. "Right before you started getting those dreams."

"Oh." Cisco sat down heavily on the couch.

"What if they're not dreams?"

"What else could they be?" Caitlin asked.

"Memories."

Joe had sat down by this time. "I'm not following."

Barry turned to him, looking a little lost himself. "What if that day Cisco found out that Wells is the Reverse Flash, and Wells killed him. But when I ran back in time it all got erased, and nobody remembered. Except now Cisco has these... dreams for some strange reason."

Cisco crossed his arms. "So, even if you are right, how does this help us catch the Reverse Flash?"

"I've got a really bad idea." Barry admitted. "We're going to use that dream to get Wells to confess to killing my mom."

 **Flash!**

"Hey, Cisco!" Caitlin walked out of the West's house after her friend.

"What's up?" Cisco asked, turning and walking backwards towards his car. "Other then the whole, 'Hey, let's go into Cisco's dream and watch him get killed by his boss, who's actually not his boss, who's actually the Reverse Flash, they guy who killed him, but not really, because it got erased from the timeline' thing."

"Uh, yeah." She tried to smile, but her heart was thudding. "Look, I have something that I kind of need to tell you. I'm sorry I didn't earlier; you really did deserve to know, it just never seemed like the right time, and I wasn't sure how you wold take it. I don't want you to feel left out or anything like that, because you're still-"

"Caitlin, I get it." Cisco placed a hand on her shoulder. "Barry's your new best friend."

"What?" Caitlin blinked, taken by surprise. "What? No! No, no, no. He's a.. _different_ kind of best friend. He's, well, he's my... he's my boyfriend."

Cisco was silent. Then he grinned. "Oh, cool! Because if he _was_ your best friend, then I would have to think of a best friend, and if I said Wells that would be a little bit sick, because he's evil now."

Caitlin laughed. She couldn't help it. Now she wasn't sure why she had been so nervous. "You're great, Cisco." She smiled, giving him a hug.

"Why thank you, Caitlin." He beamed at her. "You're pretty cool, too."

He skipped off, because Cisco Ramon is the only man in the world that could get away with skipping, and Barry came up to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "I told you it would go fine."

She kissed the underside of his chin. "Yes, you did. Now you can gloat."

"Me? Gloat? Never." Barry chuckled, and she could feel the rumbling against her back. "And guess what?"

"What?"

"Now we can kiss in STAR Labs _all we want_." Caitlin giggled as he spun her around and pecked her on the mouth.

"Let's not torture Cisco too much, ok?" She requested. "He's being good about this now, but I'm not sure how he'd feel about his two best friends making out on his desk."

Barry acknowledged this with a tilt of his head. "I think that's fair."

"Now," Caitlin smiled flirtatiously. "I did say "too much". Not "not at all"."

Barry snickered and kissed her again.

 **Flash!**

"So this will allow Cisco to see into his dreams." Barry confirmed, raising his metal work glasses to get a better look at his girlfriend.

"I got the idea off of a dream article about lucid dream therapy." Caitlin told him, watching Cisco work on the shiny lensed glasses in front of him. "They think it can help people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder."

With a laugh of disbelief and amazement, Barry straightened up. Cisco moved over to his desk. "Traumatized; Stressed: Check and check."

"The theory is that it will allow people to enter their dreams and face their fears." Caitlin explained, doing something on the computer in front of her that Barry couldn't see. He _could_ see that she was wearing her 'Explaining Face', and that it was very cute. "Still working on the talking part."

"Are we sure this thing isn't, you know, gonna mess with my brain?" Cisco asked nervously, fiddling again with the glasses.

"The amount of electricity used to trigger lucid dreaming is harmless." Caitlin assured him. Then she glanced at Barry with a wince. "Probably."

"Who's going to be lucid dreaming?" Wells had approached, like not too long ago, without anyone noticing. That guy seemed to be everywhere at once lately.

"Um.." Caitlin glanced at the boys. "We were just thinking of using it on metas. To try and figure out what makes them, you know, tick." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But we were running into some problems."

"When we dream." Wells said. "The middle brain lights up with electricity." He showed them a diagram, and began to explain to them a complicated formula on how they could make the device.

Caitlin looked at the other two triumphantly over Wells' head. This could work to their favor.

 **Flash!**

"Ok." Cisco was pacing nervously across the floor of Barry's lab. "Can we go over this one more time?"

"Yes." Caitlin allowed. "You put on the glasses, close your eyes, and start dreaming. Not that hard."

Barry snickered, but Cisco didn't look particularly amused. "Yeah. Except I'm pretty sure I die in this dream. If I go back into it, am I going to die in real life? I mean, what're we talking about- is this inception or dreamscape?"

Joe ignored the increasingly quickly asked questions, and handed Cisco a glass warm milk. "Here. Drink this."

"Why, am I five?"

"Just drink it." Joe insisted.

"Ok. I'll drink it." Cisco took it all in one gulp. Caitlin could see his hands shaking.

"You're gonna be fine, Cisco." Barry told him quietly from where he was leaning against the table.

Cisco shook himself, tucked his hair behind his ears, and laid down on the bed. Caitlin placed the tech gently over his face. "The glasses are emitting a low level delta wave, which should help you fall asleep."

"Ok." Cisco said. "I gotta warn you though: Usually it takes me a long time to go to sleep. I mean, I'm not saying I'm an insomniac..." His voice trailed off completely, and he was out like a light.

Barry smirked over the bed, and Caitlin shook her head fondly. "Uh. So that's how you get him to shut up." Joe grinned.

"He's entering the rem." Caitlin hand's were shaking she was so excited. "It's working."

Barry watched her face, which was beautiful with it's smile of anticipation. He reached over to squeeze her hand, then leaned over his friend. "Cisco. Can you... hear me? You're dreaming, bud."

They waited for a little while, and there was no response. Then, "Whoa. Guys, this is _mad_ freaky."

After shooting a quick glance at Caitlin to exclaim though facial expression about how cool it was that this had worked, Barry asked. "Ok, where are you?"

"Um... in the Cortex." Cisco said. "I mean, I know I'm just dreaming that I'm in the Cortex, but... it feels so real."

"What is dream you doing?"

"Caitlin just left." Cisco told them. It was weird. His face was completely blank, all of him unusually still, but his mouth moved, and words came out. "I asked her to take Wells to Jitters."

Brow furrowed, Barry glanced up at Caitlin. She shrugged. She didn't remember ever doing that. "Why do you want Wells out of the lab?"

"I think he might have tampered with my work." Cisco said slowly. "I need to check." There was a pause, and Caitlin figured Cisco was walking down to the room where they had originally caught the Reverse Flash. "Ok. Ok, I'm walking to the Bunker." _Mental telepathy..._ "Oh man, I loved this shirt! I thought the drier ate it!"

Joe laughed outright, and Barry shook his head. "Focus, Cisco."

"Ok, ok." Cisco paused for a moment. "Alright. Now I'm running tests on the containment system. This data. It doesn't make any sense. All the super capacitors. They were all still fully charged."

The smile faded off of Caitlin's face as her heart began to thud in her chest. "There's absolutely no reason that the man in yellow should have escaped." Another pause. What Cisco said next nearly made Caitlin have the need to find a chair so she could sit down. "Oh my gosh... it was just a hologram. He tricked us."

Barry placed his hand on Caitlin's back to support her. She leaned into his chest slightly and took a deep breathe. Everything was true. Everything.

"Oh, gosh, Wells is here!" Cisco exclaimed, and Caitlin could hear the fear in his voice.

She reached down and rubbed his shoulder. "Cisco, it's just a dream. He can't hurt you."

"You better be right about that!" Cisco gasped. There was a long silence, in which Caitlin presumed Wells was talking. "Eobard Thawn..." Cisco muttered.

"Thawn?" Joe leaned foreword. "Like Eddie Thawn?"

"You killed Nora Allen."

It was Barry's turn to look alarmed. "Wait, Nora? What about my mom?"

"He's confessing."

"Cisco?"

"He- He didn't wanna kill her." Cisco's voice was beginning to rise in fear. "It was you, Barry, he was trying to kill you!"

A terrible dinging started, and Caitlin whipped towards Cisco's vitals. "His blood pressure is 200 and his heart rate is 147. Guys, he's loosing higher brain function." She lurched over to her friends side, and grabbed his hand. "Cisco, you're going to be ok. It's just a dream, you're gonna be ok."

"His hand! It's vibrating. He's gonna kill me!" Cisco cried, and the beeping ratcheted up another notch.

"Oh my gosh, he's going to have a stroke." Caitlin said.

"Alright, get him out of there!" Barry yelled.

"Help me. Help me, please!" Cisco pleaded. His entire body was trembling.

"HELP ME!" Cisco let out a terrible scream, and flew upright. He tore the glasses off of his face, and sat there, shaking and panting for a moment.

"You're ok." Caitlin hugged him tightly. "It was just a dream, you're ok."

Barry had his hand over his mouth, and he looked like he was going to be sick. "Barry?" Joe asked in concern.

"My mom." Barry murmured. "This was my fault."

 **Flash!**

"Hey, Barry? You in here?" Caitlin moved hesitantly into the pipeline.

"Yeah." Barry straightened, rubbing his eyes. "You need something?"

"No." Her dress rustled as she sat down next to him on the floor, and placed a hand on his knee. This had sort of become their spot, so whenever one of them was upset, the other always knew where to go. "How are you doing?"

"As good as anyone who finds out that his mother's death is his fault." Barry whispered, another tear tracking down his face.

One thing that Caitlin had noticed nearly immediately about Barry was that he showed a lot more emotion then most men. He would cry on her shoulder, and open up about nearly anything. She liked that about him. It made her feel special that she was one of his confidants.

Now, though, it wasn't time to talk about any of that. "Barry... it wasn't your fault." She murmured, wiping his cheeks with the pad of her thumb.

"Yes, it was, Caitlin!" Barry shouted suddenly. "All of it! If I hadn't been there that night, as my future self, she wouldn't be dead." His voice broke. "She would be here-" He turned and pressed his face into her shoulder, seeking the comfort he knew she would give him.

Caitlin encircled his back with her arms and pressed her lips on to the top of his head. "Hey.." She whispered. "It's going to be ok." Barry didn't respond. "I've got you." Caitlin breathed. "I've got you, Barry."

Barry curled up into her side, practically sitting in her lap, and sobbed quietly for a long time. Caitlin let him, and, if anyone asked later, she cried a little, too. For Barry, for his mom, for the awful, horrible, unfair situation they were all in.

She did find, however, that she felt better after that. She took a few deep breaths, helped Barry up, and went to find him a glass of water. When she returned, he had composed himself a little, and gave her a lingering kiss. "Caitlin, I... I lo-"

"Hey, guys?" Cisco poked his head in, and immediately averted his gaze, like he thought they would be unclothed or something. "Uh, sorry, um... I was wondering if you wanted to hear my idea? For the plan to catch Wells?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Caitlin muttered, narrowing her eyes at Barry's back as he let go of her and walked toward Cisco. If he had said what she thought he had said...

 **Flash!**

After Caitlin had successfully gotten Wells down to the Bunker, she leaned foreword and whispered into the mic. "Here he comes." She grabbed her computer and yanked it open, almost at Barry's speed, pulling up the feed from the Bunker.

Dr. Wells walked (not rolled, walked) into the room, clapping. "Hello Cisco. You really are quite clever." He laughed, but it was strange. Evil.

"You're him." Cisco played the part alarmingly well. "The Reverse Flash. Joe was right this whole time, wasn't he."

"Good old Joe." Wells closed Cisco's computer. "Joe West had his doubts all along- Even from that first night in the hospital. Joe knew something wasn't right. Cops. Be it now as they will be in a hundred years."

Caitlin was frozen, her eyes glued to the screen. "You killed Barry's mother." Cisco breathed. "I wanna know why."

"It was never my intention to kill Nora. But, from my perspective, she was already dead. It just happened sooner then it was supposed to." Wells walked towards Cisco with his hand raised, and Cisco fell over the steps of their trap, trying to get away.

Something wasn't right. Wells hadn't actually admitted anything. Caitlin got shakily to her feet. There was something off here. Something that reminded her of... what? What did it remind her of?

"You're not going to get away with this." Cisco growled.

"I'm not going to get away with it?" Wells asked, that same evil smile plastered on his face.

Cisco activated the shield, and Wells stopped moving, looking around with a sardonic chuckle. "Oh, you're smart. You're smart, Cisco." Then he did something that nearly caused Caitlin's heart to stop.

He stepped through the shield.

"But you're not that smart."

"Cisco!" Caitlin cried, turning from her computer screen and racing towards the bunker.

When she got there, Wells was lying on the floor with a bullet in his chest, Joe had a shell shocked look on his face, and Barry was as white as a sheet. "Cisco.." She reached her friend and grasped his arm. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah..." Cisco said. "But I'm never ever gonna sleep, ever again. But yeah, I'm ok."

Caitlin looked in horror down at the floor, where the body of Dr. Wells was lying. She crouched down beside him, and felt his pulse. "He's dead." She breathed.

"He didn't confess." Barry's voice was thick with tears and pain. "Joe, this was it. My dad's gonna be in prison forever."

Caitlin reached out to him, but he stood up, tears running down his cheeks. "Barry, I'm sorry." Joe muttered.

"Hey, uh, whoa!" Cisco pointed to the body on the floor. It shifted, and turned to a faceless blob. "What the heck?" Cisco asked.

"I told you this before." A very familiar voice came out from the speakers in the Bunker. Caitlin stepped closer to Barry. "I am always one step ahead. Flash." It was Wells. How was this possible?! "Allow me to re-introduce to you: Hannibal Bates! And his amazing ability to transform into any person he touches."

That was why it had seemed so familiar. The way Hannibal had held himself, like he wasn't quite comfortable in his own body. The acting, while convincing, had reminded her of the fake Barry that had kissed her.

"I knew that ability would come in handy." Wells, or whoever he was, continued. "I did not expect it to come in handy this soon."

"You used him!" Barry yelled. His voice was rough, and a little scary to listen to. "Like you used all of us."

Caitlin reached for him again, but he stepped out of her grasp. Cisco took her hand instead.

"He served a purpose." Wells said simply. "It didn't take much convincing. Just the simple promise of his freedom."

"You ruined my life. _All of our lives_!" Barry walked towards the door, glaring up at the speaker with a terrifying fire in his eyes.

"We stood by you, after _everything_ that happened." Caitlin cried, tears stinging in her eyes.

"I can see how this must be difficult for you to understand." Wells admitted. "But, trust me, your lives are now so much better because of what I have done for you."

"You don't have to hide anymore, we know you're not Harrison Wells." Joe accused. "Just tells us who you are!"

"A confession will get you nowhere. You've seen who I am. You know what I can do."

"You wanna kill me? Go ahead." Barry croaked. "I'm not gonna fight you. Just.. tell the police what you did. Get my dad out of prison!"

"I don't want to kill you Barry!" Wells sounded legitimately horrified. "I need you. And I also did not anticipate, as long as those 5 years have been for me, how much I would come to love working with you. With all of you. And yet. That does not change what needs to happen."

"Then face me now!" Barry screamed, stepping in front of Caitlin protectively. She reached out and took his hand. It was trembling.

"Oh." Wells chuckled. "We will face each other again. I promise you. Soon, Barry. Very soon."

Cisco's phone buzzed. "He's in the Time Vault!"

Barry was out of the room before anyone could say another word. "Barry!" Caitlin cried.

Barry walked into the vault, and his heart froze. On the wall were hundreds of images of all the people he loved. Scenes from every day of the past year flew out to him. Iris and Eddie where there, in their shared room. There was one of him kissing Caitlin, one on the treadmill, the other on the floor. There first kiss.

There were videos of Joe, of Cisco, of Henry, of everyone he cared about. "It was all a set up." Barry breathed. "We thought we set a trap for him. But he... set a trap for us. Oh my gosh... no."

 **Author's Note: Soooo! That was pretty uninspired, Snowbarry wise, but it was a CRAZY episode all the same! The next one is Grodd.. and I have something very special planned for that :)**


	21. 1x21

**Author's Note: Ah, we are so close to the end! I'm going to miss this.**

 **But, wait! There's next season! Yippeeeeee!**

It was, what, 10:23 in the morning, and Barry was already get a checkup. She flashed her small pen light in each of his eyes. "Your eye movement is normal. No signs of neurological damage."

Barry nodded. "Do you think the thief might've been a metahuman that put the whammie on you?" Cisco suggested.

"Look, I don't know. When... Rainbow Raider," Caitlin smiled, pleased that he had used her name. "got in my head, all I felt was anger. But this was not that. This was just.. overwhelming fear."

If Barry had a choice, he would never tell anyone what he had seen inside his own head. Cisco leaned over his computer, a video from the crime scene playing in front of him. "Huh. Looks like when you went down, thief got disoriented, too."

"Maybe we... both got whammied." Barry frowned in consideration.

Caitlin turned away from him (as cute as his thinking face was), and her heart nearly stopped. There, in the doorway, _feet_ away from them, from Barry in his suit, stood none other then Iris West.

Everyone in the room froze. "Then you know how it feels." Iris said unhappily.

The only thing running through Caitlin's head was, _How does she know?_

 **Flash!**

"I would not like to be Barry Allen right now." Cisco grimaced.

Caitlin leaned on the desk beside him. "I wonder what he's going to say?" She flicked her eyes suggestively over to the video recorder feed on Cisco's computer.

"We should... absolutely not listen in." Cisco made it sound like it was exactly what they _should_ do.

"It's none of our business." Caitlin agreed hastily.

It was quiet in the Cortex for a moment. Caitlin glanced over her shoulder. "But... the Flash _is_ our business."

"And Iris did just find out that Barry's the Flash."

"So, by transmit property, Barry and Iris are our business. And, anyway, Barry is my boyfriend." Cisco didn't look sure, but Caitlin reached down and pressed the audio on the feed.

"How did you find out?" Barry was saying. He was on his feet in front of Iris, who was sitting dejectedly on the treadmill.

"When I touched.. the Flash the other night, I felt a jolt of electricity. The only other time I have ever felt anything like that was when you were in a coma. It's something with the Speed inside of you, Barry. It gives you this... special charge."

Caitlin could testify to that. It was one of the things she had first noticed from holding hands, or even brushing against Barry. "I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner." Iris muttered.

Barry turned around, rubbing his face in a way he only did when he was truly upset. He had been doing that a lot lately. "I can only _imagine_ how angry you are."

"I'm not angry, Barry. I'm just... disappointed." Caitlin frowned at Iris' response. Her opinion might be slightly biased, but she didn't think it was fair how Iris was reacting to the news of her friends secret identity.

"Ok." Barry started to pace.

"Does Eddie know?" Iris asked quietly.

Barry was silent for a long, tense moment. "Yes. He does."

"Is that why he got kidnapped?"

"No, I don't know why Wells took Eddie-"

"Dr. Wells took Eddie?" Iris looked up for the first time. "Wells is the Man in Yellow?"

"Everything he's been doing- Helping me- it was all a lie. Wells... killed my mom." Barry's shoulders sagged, and all of the fight went out of him. Caitlin barely resisted running in there and hugged him tightly.

There were tears in Iris' eyes. "Is he gonna kill Eddie?"

"No, he's not!" Barry stated firmly. "We're going to get Eddie back, I swear."

"Yeah, the Flash said the same thing."

Now Barry was getting upset. "Look, Iris, you have to believe me- There were _so_ many times I wanted to tell you. You were the _first person_ I wanted to tell. But-" He choked over his words in his haste to get them out. "But _everything_ started getting crazy, and I thought maybe Joe was right, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Iris stopped him, fire burning in her eyes. "You're telling me that my dad _knew_. And he told you not to tell me?"

"He was trying to protect you." Barry whispered. Caitlin winced. Those words, used on a female, were the worst you could possibly say. "We both were."

That was the last straw for Iris. "Yeah, well maybe it's time you both stopped." She stood up and stormed out of the room.

Caitlin and Cisco scrambled to find something to do. Cisco, in his desperation, picked up a phone. "Yeah, ok, yeah, uh huh. If we could, uh, get another shipment of those... computers..." As soon as Iris had gotten around the corner, he dropped his hand. "Yeah, I don't think that had anything to do with us."

Caitlin felt exceedingly guilty. "Nope." She glanced into the other room, where Barry sat on the treadmill with his head in his hands. "Do you think I should go talk to him?" She whispered to Cisco.

Her friend bit his lip. "I don't know how you guys do your whole, uh, dating thing, but that would probably be nice."

She nodded, and steeled herself. "Hey, Barry?" The door clicked shut behind her, and she sent Cisco a glare through the glass, daring him to try eavesdropping again.

"I'm guessing you heard all of that." Barry looked up at her, eyes red, but a hint of a smile around his mouth.

She turned red. "Um... sorry. We just-"

"No, it's fine. At least now I don't have to repeat it." Barry shrugged listlessly, and stood up. "What could I have done, Cait? Joe made me keep it a secret- and I listened- and now she probably will hate me for the rest of my life, and-"

Caitlin pressed her mouth to his in one quick motion, if only to shut him up. "Barry, Iris will forgive you. You two have been friends for much too long to have a little thing like this break you up."

"But the thing is, this _isn't_ a little thing!" Barry burst out. "I have kept this _huge_ part of my life from her for _so long_. If I was her, I wouldn't forgive me!" Barry stopped his rant, and realized what he had said. He laughed a little. "Though, if I was Iris.. that would be pretty weird."

Caitlin giggled, and the tension in the room defused immediately. She gave him a hug. "You'll figure it out, Barry. She'll come around, I promise."

She only hoped that she was right.

 **Flash!**

General Elling was normal creepy, but the lifeless, mindless, staring version of him was even creepier. "What is wrong with him?" Barry asked, a little nervously.

"I pulled a _bullet_ out of his shoulder." Caitlin shook her head.

"That should hurt like heck." Joe agreed.

"And it didn't even seem like he felt it." Caitlin leaned her head on Barry's shoulder. "I did a complete body scan, and otherwise, General Elling is perfectly healthy."

"Then why is he just standing there like a robot?" That's Joe for you. Always with the direct questions.

Barry shrugged. "General? Can you hear me?"

Nothing. "Maybe he's in some kind of trance?" The three of them approached the General.

"General? Do you remember me?"

Elling turned his head, and Barry got an extremely weirded out look on his face. "Flash... Bad..." His voice was low and gravelly.

"Maybe some kind of psychotic break?" Caitlin continued guessing. "Like some identity disorder?"

Now Elling turned to her. "Caitlin... good."

Everyone was looking at her now. "Uh, thank you?" She peeped. Barry stepped in front of her protectively. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I... Am... Grodd..."

"What is a Grodd?" Barry asked, nose wrinkled.

Everything clicked into place at that moment. "I think I'd better show you." Caitlin said quietly. She took Barry's hand and led him up to the Cortex, Joe following close behind.

Cisco got up a video feed from a few years ago, before the explosion, before her brother died. Before Barry.

Barry rubbed the back of his neck as he watched a younger, smiling Caitlin play with the largest monkey he had ever seen. "Oh. Grodd is a gorilla."

"5 years ago, Elling and Wells were working on a project to expand soldiers cognitive abilities during battle." Cisco filled Barry in.

"What Wells didn't realize was that Elling was trying to create soldiers with psychic abilities." Caitlin finished.

"What happened to... uh, Grodd?"

"We don't know." Caitlin shrugged. "After the Particle Accelerator exploded, I went down to check on him, and his cage was empty." Caitlin explained, and soon they were talking about how exactly Grodd had gotten out of his cage, and if he was responsible for all of this.

 **Flash!**

Iris was leaning against the wall of Caitlin's lab. It was strange having her there, after so long of having to keep it all a secret. "Hey... thanks for listening to me."

A few hours earlier, Iris had come to her in near tears, and had just begun talking and _talking_. Caitlin had simply sat and listened as all the frustration on loneliness that Iris had been harboring for the past few months came pouring out. "Of course." And, because she felt like she had to, so added. "For what it's worth: Barry feels really terrible about lying to you."

"He should." Frowned Iris. "It wasn't right."

"No." Caitlin tilted her head. "And if I was in your position, I would feel just as angry about all of this as you. But the thing is Iris, I'm not. I can see it from both of your sides. Barry is going through so much right now, and he needs you. He needs his friend."

"He has you." Iris shrugged. "That's obviously been enough, lately."

Caitlin smiled. "Barry and I are dating. It's different. He needs as many people having his back as possible right now. And if you are with him, he'll be able to focus so much better on everything else. Like catching Wells, and stopping Grodd."

Iris' eyes shifted away. "My life has been.. crazy these past few days. Everything has been going wrong."

"I have had times like that, on occasion." Caitlin sighed. "I find it's easier if you talk about it. And if you have friends."

Shaking her head, Iris turned to go. "Thank you for trying Caitlin. I'm just not ready to forgive him yet."

"I know." Caitlin breathed. "I know."

 **Flash!**

Joe was gone, and Barry was a mess. Caitlin had just finished scanning his brain, and found that it had the same active parts as Elling's when he was being controlled by Grodd. Now Cisco was trying to figure out a way to find Grodd, and Joe.

"I put a tracker in the tranquilizer dart you shot Grodd with. As soon as it activates- "

"No, Cisco, I can't wait for that. I will search every inch of that sewer if I have to." Barry's voice was hard, and much more uncaring then Caitlin was used to.

"And what happens if you find him? What happens if Grodd takes over your mind the way he did with Elling?" Caitlin hated it, but her voice shook a little. Hearing Barry screaming over the comms as pure, unadulterated fear shot through him was more then a little terrifying.

Barry sighed. "I don't- Could you guys build me something? Some sort of tech so he can't get into my head?"

Cisco and Caitlin exchanged looks. "Man, I don't know. Maybe if Dr. Wells were here."

Iris launched herself from the wall. "I don't understand. Every day you guys find a way to help people. All of the Flash's powers, and all of this equipment, and you can't save Eddie and my dad?" She turned, and for what felt like the millionth time that day, stomped out of the room.

"We'll figure something out." Caitlin brushed her fingers against Barry's arm reassuringly.

 **Flash!**

Like always, they did figure something out. "An anti-telepathy strip. It uses magnetic resonance to neutralize any unfamiliar neurological stimulants."

"So it will protect Barry from being mind controlled." And Iris was back again! Unbelievable.

"That's the hope." Caitlin tried to keep her voice steady, but she was nervous. "But we have no way of actually knowing if works."

"It'll work." Barry looked for confident then she sounded.

"The tracker just came online!" Cisco called from his computer. Caitlin gave Barry the headset. "We have Grodd's location."

Caitlin didn't even get a last hug before Barry flashed away. They all moved quickly over to the tracker screen, and watched Barry's tiny red dot as it dashed through the city. It slowed in the sewer, but only for a little bit.

"What is Barry doing?" Iris asked.

"He's maneuvering Grodd so that he can run through a tunnel 5.3 miles away." Caitlin explained. Her boyfriend was truly a genius. She would have to tell him that later.

"So Barry can do what?"

"Same thing he did to Girder." Cisco looked exceedingly pleased with everything. "Super-sonic punch baby. Hit it!"

Barry's red blip shot forward, and Caitlin waited with baited breath. Grodd moved at the last second, and Barry's dot went flying. "The supersonic punch failed!" Cisco yelled.

"It's ok, Cisco. The headset's working." Barry told them, and Caitlin sank into a chair, glad that some part of their hastily assembled plan was working out.

"Ok, uh, try some speed punches on him." Cisco suggested.

"Gah!" Barry growled. "This isn't working!"

Caitlin desperately searched for another idea. "Well, what if you tried-" Suddenly, Barry's body scan showed signs of intense squeezing around the neck area. "Oh no."

"Barry!" Cisco yelled. His friends red down smashed, not around, but _through_ a wall, and Caitlin saw that Barry was now lying in the middle of train tracks. "Barry!" Cisco tried again.

"Oh no." Caitlin muttered. "The headset's offline."

They heard the horrible sound of Barry's screams again, and Caitlin gripped her armrests, resisting the urge to either burst into tears, cover her ears, or throw up. "Barry's brain activity is _off the charts_. This is worse the last time."

"What's happening?" Iris' voice was horse.

"Grodd's attacking him psychically. He's paralyzed."

"Oh no..." Cisco brought them more bad news. "There's a service train coming!"

"Do something, please!" Iris begged. _What did she think they were doing?_

"I can't stop the train!" Cisco yanked his fingers through his hair.

"Barry, you have to get out of there now." Caitlin was crying, but she wasn't even paying attention.

"What do we do?" Cisco asked.

Caitlin, spur of the moment, leaned forward, towards the mic. "Barry." Her voice was surprisingly calm. "Listen to me, ok? You've got to concentrate on my voice. Whatever is happening to you, you have to fight it. I know you can do this. I know how strong you are." Her heart was racing, and her hands were shaking as they clenched the tabletop. "Stand up to Grodd. You can do this. Please."

Her voice broke. "Barry!" She took a deep breath, and then, quieter, but still loud enough for him to hear. "Barry, I love you."

In the sewer, Barry closed his eyes, listening to Caitlin's voice as it surged around him. He saw her in his head, stronger then Grodd. She was in the pipeline, telling him about Ronnie. Then he was at her apartment, and snuggling up next to her. She was kissing him. They sang together on stage. She hugged him while he cried for everything he had lost.

She was Caitlin. And his love for her overpowered any other emotion.

Barry moved away from the train.

 **Flash!**

To say things were tense at STAR Labs would be an understatement. Caitlin and Barry hadn't had the chance to talk to each alone since Caitlin had confessed that she loved him. Iris and Cisco kept giving her amazed looks. Joe gave her a hug, and then he went off to sleep. Or have a panic attack.

Barry was in the treadmill room, and this time, Caitlin and Cisco both went to join him. "Maybe it's a good thing we didn't catch Grodd." Caitlin walked up to him, averting his eyes carefully. "I mean, where would we put him?"

Barry smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "The pipeline isn't exactly equipped to hold a super giant telepathic gorilla." She sat down next to him on the treadmill.

"Joe mentioned that Grodd called Wells father." Barry said. Caitlin tilted her head, soundlessly asking him where he was going with this. "Wells must have told Grodd to go after us. That's why Grodd didn't kill Joe." He paused. "I think Joe is right- I think everything Grodd did: It was just to distract us."

Cisco remained oddly silent, and Barry looked up at him. "What's wrong? Are you ok?

"I'm just thinking about the headset." He sat down. "It wasn't strong enough. You could have been killed out there, man."

"No, dude, your tech worked." Barry insisted. "And it proved that we don't need Wells. The three of us took on Grodd, and rescued Joe. Together we can do anything."

Barry turned to her, and there eyes met for the first time since he had fought Grodd. He smiled at her.

That was all that she needed.

 **Author's Note: SHE SAID ITTTTTTTTTTTT! GUYS! OH MY GOSH! FINALLY!**

 **Ooooooh, that was fun.**


	22. 1x22

**Author's Note: Oh my gosh, I'm going to cry when this is all over. This chapter... and then the next.. and Season 1 is done!**

Caitlin looked up at a knock on the door. She placed the framed photograph of Ronnie back on her bedside table, and stood to answer it. She wasn't surprised to see Barry on the other side. "Hey. Come on in."

He walked, his eyes not quite seeing her. "If this is a bad time, I can come back later. I just, you know, didn't want to be alone."

"Yeah. I get that." Caitlin shifted from foot to foot. Barry and her hadn't had a real conversation alone since she had confessed, and it was making her jumpy.

"Everything with this possibility with time-travel and everything..." Barry trailed off, but started up again soon after. "It's just, you know, been making me think a lot about everything. Especially my mom."

"I know what you mean." Caitlin breathed, sitting down heavily on her bed. "If- If you get the chance... are you going to save her, Barry?"

He was quiet for a long time. "I don't know, Cait. I just don't know."

The answer unnerved her, but she didn't comment. Barry sat next to her and put and arm around her shoulders. They sat in silence, together, until Cisco called Caitlin to tell her to come to STAR Labs.

 **Flash!**

They hadn't made much progress on Wells' plan. Cisco was convinced the wheelchair had something to do with it all. "Yeah, it was a miss-direct." Joe shook his head. "Just like everything else Wells has done. I mean, the last person we'd expect to be the Man in Yellow is a person who's lost the use of their legs.

"That's exactly right Joe." Cisco bent down towards the wheelchair. "Which is why I started messing around with the wheelchair." To everyone's surprise, he took hold of it and flipped it over. "And that's when I found this."

There was a glowing something on the bottom. "What is it?" Caitlin asked, peering at the object.

"It's a battery." Cisco looked at them excitedly. The three of them looked right back, not comprehending. "I think he was using it to, I don't know, charge himself. So he can be extra fast! That's why Barry can't beat him." Cisco turned red. "No offense, dude."

Barry was going to respond, but then a persistent beep started up from one of Cisco's computers. "Ooh." He tucked his hair behind his ear. "There's a perimeter breach. Someone's... someone's trying to activate Particle Accelerator!"

The look on Barry's was scary. "Wells."

"Even if he did rebuild it, how could Dr. Wells even turn the Particle Accelerator on?" Caitlin was, as usual, quicker to see the logical reason, instead of going with her gut.

Barry turned to her, eyes wide. "He's here. That's why we couldn't find him. He's been inside STAR Labs the whole time!"

Joe turned and the two of them moved quickly toward the door. "Stay here." Cisco instructed. He was halfway out the door when he stopped, ran back, and grabbed his slushy. Caitlin gave him a look. Boys were so weird.

The three men walked slowly into the Pipeline, Joe first, gun raised. "Cisco, what'd you bring that orange soda for?"

"Whenever something happens with the Reverse Flash, liquid floats in the air." Cisco explained. "You know, Barry's fish tank, Wells' champagne. Lance's coffee- remember that? If this does the same thing, we'll know that Wells is in there."

They stopped by the access panel. "Do it." Barry ordered. Cisco took a deep breath, and opened up the door to the Accelerator.

Joe walked in first, and stared in awe at the inside. "Man... this is... big."

Cisco looked down in horror at his drink. Liquid began to rise from it, defying gravity in the creepiest way possible. "Oh gosh... guys!"

A red flash zipped past them, knocking them to the side. Barry was the first to recover, and flashed right after. "Barry!" Cisco shouted. He ran up to Joe. "What do we do now?!"

Before he could answer, a robotic voice said, "Prisoner release. Protocol initiated." A single cell slid to the center.

"Oh, no no no no no.." Cisco breathed.

The second the cell opened, none other then Shawna Baez, otherwise known as Peek-A-Boo, had grabbed Joe's gun, and whipped both of them in the heads with it. They over the side of the pipeline bridge.

Joe got up in time to see the door sliding shut. "NO!" He yelled, struggling to his feet.

Caitlin ran into the Pipeline, and froze in terror at the sight of Shawna. The other woman winked. "Peek-a-Boo."

Caitlin turned and ran. She had barely made it to the elevators when Shawna materialized in front of her. Caitlin shrieked and backed up a step, and Shawna gun-whipped her across the face. She fell with a thump to the ground.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be stuck in that _box_?" Shawna kicked Caitlin viciously across the room, before grabbing her and throwing her to the wall.

A sharp, high-heeled boot slammed into Caitlin's throat and she chocked, unable to inhale. "Now you're the one who's going to be in a box. In the ground."

Her finger twitched on the trigger, and Caitlin closed her eyes. Then Iris came out of nowhere, and slammed a supply bar into the back of Shawna's head. She crumpled, and Caitlin gasped for air. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Iris looked pretty pleased herself. "Maybe I should go into the superhero fighting busyness myself."

 **Flash!**

They had found Eddie in the pipeline. Joe had heard him calling for help, and he, Iris and Cisco had gotten him out of his prison and back to the Cortex. Caitlin was just finishing up her checkup. "You're a little dehydrated, but you should be fine."

"Thanks, Caitlin." Eddie said with one of his earnest smiles.

Barry flashed into the Cortex, and leaned over, panting. "Wells got away. He was too fast. He's always to fast." Then he noticed the man sitting in the room. "Eddie!"

"We found him under that hatch in the pipeline." Cisco informed Barry.

"I'm so sorry. I- I thought I'd looked everywhere for you."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Sometimes you can't see the clues. Even if they're right in front of you." He glanced at Iris, and an uncomfortable silence settled over the room.

Barry turned to Caitlin, and saw the dark bruise on her face. "Caitlin! What _happened_ to you?" He tilted her chin to see the full extent of the damage.

"Shawna got out of the pipeline." Caitlin closed her eyes for a moment, collect herself.

Iris saved her, this time verbally. "She beat up Caitlin pretty badly, but I knocked her out, and she's back in her cell."

"She hurt you?!" Barry asked, voice dark with a protective rage.

"Barry, really, I'm fine." Caitlin insisted. _We'll talk about this later_.

"Well, um, you know, all that's important is that we're all safe." Iris rested her hand on Eddie's shoulder. "And back together, right?"

"Eddie, why'd he take you?" Joe asked.

Eddie's smile faded, leaving him looking drawn and tired. "I don't know. He said that we're... family. He said his real name is Eobard Thawn."

"Eobard Thawn..." Cisco muttered. "Just like in my dream."

"Did he say anything else?" Joe pressed. "I mean, anything that can help us figure out what he might be after."

"I- He didn't say much. Just kept working on some tube." Eddie shrugged.

"A tube?" Cisco frowned. "What'd it look like?"

"Metallic. Futuristic. He said it was the key to get back everything that was taken from him."

Barry shook his head. "A key... I don't understand."

"Look," Eddie closed his eyes for a second. "I just want to go home. Is that ok?"

He looked so pitiful, sitting on the bed. "Yes, of course." Caitlin murmured, taking the needle out of the back of his hand. "Make sure you get some rest." Soon after that Iris took him out.

Joe and Cisco had a short conference in the corner, and left also. Only then did Caitlin let Barry take a look at her. He stroked the back of her head, and kissed the bruise on her temple. "I am going to kill her."

"No you're not." Caitlin shook her head. Barry frowned, but she knew that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Well.. she was hoping that, anyway.

He placed his hands on her sides, and she winced involuntarily. Before she could stop him, he had pulled up her shirt. "She kicked you? Cait- why didn't you put ice on this? For all we know you could have a broken rib."

"I don't." She pulled her shirt down firmly and gently kissed his lips. "I'm fine, Barry, really."

He hugged her tightly, and she tried not to pull away, because her side really _did_ hurt. Barry seemed to realize that a moment later, and quickly stepped away. "Oh, gosh, Caitlin, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think there-"

Caitlin was getting sick of him apologizing, so she grabbed his shirt and slammed her lips into his. He groaned, grasping her hips gently in his hands.

Cisco walked back in. "Ak! No! I didn't see any of this. Oh gosh, no..." He covered his eyes, and Caitlin yanked her mouth from Barry's reluctantly, blushing furiously.

"Sorry, Cisco." She muttered. Barry laughed, which made her happy. He had been pretty upset when he had come in.

It seemed to be the day of constant alarms, because one started ringing from Cisco's computer. Again. He leaned over it, and his eyes grew huge. "Oh, no, no, no!"

"What?" Barry called after him. He turned and shot an exasperated glance at Caitlin. "What now?"

 **Flash!**

"Please tell me this is a joke." Caitlin deadpanned. She was face to face with none other then Lisa and Leonard Snart, and it was not bringing back great memories.

"Oh." Lisa frowned mockingly. "You were right, Lenny, she is very uptight."

Caitlin's blood boiled. "I am not uptight!" She snapped. Everyone on Team Flash seemed to find their shoes very interesting. That hurt. Lisa Snart was exactly like every mean middle and high schooler that had put gum in her hair and tormented her in school. She hated her voice for sounding so raw when she added, "You can't call me uptight."

"Look, guys." Barry interrupted. He did have the grace to look a little guilty. "We need their help if we're going to pull this off."

"Why are you in your mask? Snart already knows who you are." Caitlin pointed out.

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. That includes my sister." Snart drawled.

"Jerk." Lisa wrinkled her nose.

"Train wreck." Lisa crossed her arms, and Leonard smirked. "Don't look so surprised, detective." Snart said, jutting his chin at Joe. "I am a man of my word."

"Yeah, you better be." Joe responded. "Or I'm going to make sure you're on that plane, too."

The plan was to ship all of the meta currently in the pipeline to Oliver's prison on Lian Yu, so that they wouldn't be affected by whatever Wells was planning in the Particle Accelerator. Caitlin didn't exactly think it was the smartest plan (or, even a smart plan at all), but Barry seemed convinced that it was the only way. And when Barry had an idea, he stuck to it.

The group separated, Joe, Barry and Snart all heading off to get started, and Cisco and Caitlin going to their respective desks. Lisa approached the former. "Hey, Cisco." She crooned.

"Oh, hey, Captain Cold's evil sister." Cisco greeted.

"Oh... you aren't still mad at me, are you?" Lisa's voice was filled with obviously fake hurt. Caitlin rolled her eyes. "I really did enjoy kissing you."

Caitlin choked. "You _KISSED_ her?!"

"Under duress, calm down." Cisco held up a hand, not breaking eye contact with the evil beauty in front of him.

"You know, I've thought a lot about you." Lisa continued in a slight whisper. Caitlin seriously considered throwing up in the trashcan next to her desk, but she didn't think Cisco would appreciate it. This was too weird.

"Have you really?" There was a long pause, and Cisco's resolve broke. "Well, stop! Because this, right here, it ain't gonna happen."

"A girl can hope." Lisa whispered. The trashcan was very _very_ tempting right about now.

Lisa clicked out in her 6 inch heels, and Caitlin turned around with a raised eyebrow. Cisco looked slightly shell shocked. "Really not enjoying being one of the good guys this week." He muttered. " _Really_ not."

 **Flash!**

Caitlin hated this plan, and she hated these metas, and she hated both the Snarts. And all of it had been so much worse when Rainbow Raider had messed up her mind. She had flown into a rage a Cisco, blaming him for Ronnie, and now she felt like the worst person on the planet. Cisco, being Cisco, had forgiven her at once, but she still felt awful.

Joe told her with a little smile when he came back from his talk with Barry that the first person he had asked about was her. That made her feel a little better, as did Cisco's big hug, but she needed Barry right now.

She found him still sitting in the pipeline. "Maybe we should move a cushion down here." She joked, taking a seat next to him. "This floor isn't very nice to our butts."

He fought a smile. "Stop. I want to be miserable."

She laughed, and bumped his shoulder playfully. "That's what I'm here for, right?"

Barry wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Joe said you were fine, but how are you after the whole mind messing thing?"

She shrugged, and leaned against his chest. "I'm ok. Or, I will be. How are you doing? I can't believe that Snart betrayed us. I mean, I _can_ , because it's Snart, but..."

"Yeah." Barry chin came to rest on top of her head. "For a minute there, I really thought he would keep his word." They were both silent for a moment. "And, Cait, what Lisa said about you being uptight..."

Caitlin frowned, and stared at her fingers. "I know I am. I really try not to be, but-"

"Hey, no, don't do that." He tilted her chin towards his face, and gave her lips and long kiss. "Look, Caitlin, you being uptight, or, in control, more... that's one of the things I love about you."

 _Come on, Barry. Just say it. Just_ say _it._

He didn't, and soon stood up. "You're right, this floor is pretty uncomfortable. We should head back upstairs."

She forced a smile. "Of course."

 **Flash!**

This could have possible been the best plan Barry had ever had. It could also have been the stupidest. Dr. Wells knew Barry so well that he though he wouldn't ask for help. Barry had outsmarted him, for once, in this whole game of cat and mouse.

Or so Caitlin hoped.

It didn't seem that Wells suspected anything out of the ordinary. Barry was just being his normal, rash self, and running headfirst into the first opportunity to get himself killed. Nothing abnormal.

Wells got his "evil monologue", which Cisco was fairly pleased about (in a muted, tense, way). And then Barry's plan turned into action.

Stein and Ronnies merged form flew down from the sky. "Ronnie." Caitlin grinned.

"Firestorm!" Cisco said at the same time.

"Wow." Dr. Wells commented. "You brought yourself a friend."

Oliver Queen, dressed in a strange, dark suit, shot down from whatever rooftop he had been lurking on. "I hope I'm not to late."

"You're just in time." Barry told him. Caitlin realized that this would probably be the part in every superhero movie where it got _really_ cheesy. "I don't care how fast you are." Barry continued. "You can't fight all three of us at the same time."

"Oh, I can't?" Wells asked, not looking even the slightest bit intimidated. That made Caitlin nervous. "This? This is gonna be fun."

Everyone moved into action at the same time, and, once again, Caitlin thought at how cheesy it would all be if they were watching onscreen. In real like, however, it was pretty sick. Firestorm lit up, Barry pulled on the cowl of his suit, Oliver notched an arrow, and, in record time, the Reverse Flash shot his costume of out his ring and put it on.

They all attacked, and Barry and Wells were soon a circular blur of red and yellow. Oliver moved his bow agitatedly at the light. "Move, Barry!"

Barry appeared with his back against the chain link fence, his nemesis at his throat. Firestorm shot into the air, and the Reverse Flash sent Barry flying into the STAR Labs sign, shattering the glass.

Then they started to get the upper hand. Oliver shot Wells in the leg, and Firestorm blasted him, sending him tumbling. The Reverse Flash retaliated by spinning his arms, like Caitlin had seen Barry do a few times. Firestorm blew out, and fell backwards, and Barry flashed after him. "Ronnie." She breathed.

The Reverse Flash ripped the arrow out of his leg and stared at it. "Nanites." Oliver growled. "Courtesy of Ray Palmer. They move with a high frequency pulse that's disabling your speed. You're not going to be running around for quite awhile."

True to his word, the red light faded from Wells' eyes. In hand to hand combat, he would soon find, he was _nothing_ compared to the Arrow. When he picked up an iron rod, he had the upper hand briefly, but was soon collapsed on the pavement.

Before Oliver could do a thing, Wells' vibrated the nanites out of his system. He ran at Oliver, and slammed him into the ground. "The history books say you live to be 86 years old, Mr. Queen." The Reverse Flash said, hand on Oliver's throat. "Well then," He vibrating hand came down close to Oliver's chest. "I guess the history books are wrong."

Just as he was about to kill Oliver, Barry slammed him from out of nowhere. "Ah!" Wells' recovered quickly. "That's the spirit!" He stood menacingly. "You can't stop me Flash. And you never will."

They didn't see the end of the battle, even as Cisco frantically tried to put up cameras. They did, however, see the Reverse Flash fall out of the sky, and smash into the roof of a car.

He struggled to get up, and Oliver shot him in the back.

And then it was over.

 **Author's Note: So, he didn't say I love you back yet! I have a pretty good idea of when he will, and it's gonna be** ** _fantastic_** **.**

 **Sorry if that ending was a tad dull. I felt like I kind of needed to add it, because it's so important to the storyline, even if there wasn't any snowbarry.**


	23. 1x23 (sob)

**Author's Note: Oh. My. Gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. OH MY GOSH THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!**

 **Oh, so just as a note, there were so little Snowbarry scenes in this that I went through the WestAllen scenes to see if I could replace her in any :P Sorry if that makes me seem like an awful person. I had to, though.**

"I thought I might find you here." It was cold on the rooftop, but Barry didn't seem to be bothered by it.

He stepped off his ledge and turned to face Caitlin. "I needed to get out of the lab. I thought this would be a good place to think."

"I can image in that it would be." Caitlin walked to stand beside him, and rested her elbows on the wall ledge. "Freezing, windy. Hey, at least it's not as hard as the floor in the pipeline. Or the treadmill. Or the hallway."

He laughed, and kissed her forehead. After a little bit the happy mood drained away. "So, are you gonna do it?"

"It's just so... huge." Barry looked so lost at that moment. Alone in the world with the weight of it crushing his shoulders. She leaned her cheek against his shoulder, letting him know she was there.

The fact that he was really, truly considering going back in time and saving his mother was scary, but also understandable. He had lost her so long ago, and yet he couldn't come to terms with it. Caitlin knew that when she had thought Ronnie was dead, she would have done _anything_ to get him back. She understood.

"It's the biggest decision of my life." Barry continued. "And if I'm wrong... I can't undo it." That might have been the scariest part. That and the fact that she would remember nothing of this. Of her life. Of _their_ life.

"Why would you want to?" She asked quietly. "I mean, you'd get to see your mom again, your dad, have a great career, even get married." He glanced at her with wide eyes. "I think that no matter what earth, no matter what changes you make, we will always find each other, Barry."

"But we don't know that." He croaked, his eyes suddenly damp.

"Do you think that just because you won't become the Flash that will mean that I won't be in your life?" She felt numb at the thought.

"Being that Flash... that brought us together. If I lose that, I might lose you too." Her eyes filled up, and there was nothing she could do about it. "Having this with you- I've had a great life, Caitlin."

"Come here, Barry." She whispered, holding out her arms. He curled into them, like so many times before. Except this time it was different. This time, their was the thought in both their minds that this might all be gone for good.

"What do you think I should do?" Barry asked quietly, his voice thick with tears. "I need someone to tell me."

She pulled back enough to look him in the eyes, still with her hands around his back. "I think, Barry Allen, for once in your life, you should stop thinking about other people. I think you should do what's in your heart. Do what you need to do. For yourself."

He leaned against the wall again, staring over the city. "I don't know if I can do it. Leave my life. Leave you."

"Barry, don't let me stop you from doing something that you have wanted to do for your whole life." Caitlin breathed, fingers ghosting over his shoulders. "I want you to be happy. That's all I want."

He kissed her then, running his fingers through her soft hair. But the kiss was painful.

It was almost like they were saying goodbye.

 **Flash!**

"1 minute and 52 seconds." Cisco deadpans. "You will have to go at mach 2, and if you fail, there will be a singularity opened that will swallow the universe. And _we're still considering this_?!"

Caitlin jumped in before anyone else could respond. "Cisco, if it comes to saving someone you love, you would do the same thing, wouldn't you?"

He was quiet for a moment. Everyone was. Barry took Caitlin hand and squeezed it tightly. "Thank you." His whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm always here for you." She breathed. "No matter what earth."

Cisco sighed, but approached Barry. "Alright. There will be 3 yous there." He counted them off on his fingers. "The you from the future, who saved younger you from the Reverse Flash, and now younger you." Barry nodded. "Wait until future you gets younger you out of there. And then you can go save your mom."

If it had been any other situation, Caitlin would have smiled. Right now here face with stiff, and her whole body was cold. "Piece of cake." Barry joked.

Cisco grasped his arms. "May the speed force be with you."

Barry turned to you, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Goodbye dad."

Joe grabbed him in a fierce hug. "Goodbye, son."

He hugged Iris almost tighter. "Live your life." He whispered, and clapped Eddie on the shoulder. "Take care of her."

Eddie hugged him, too. "You know I will."

He came to her last. "Caitlin..."

She didn't let him finish. She couldn't hear him say goodbye to her. That would make it too real. Instead, she grabbed the front of his suit and crushed their lips together. Her back ended up agains the wall, her hands knotted in his hair, his cradling her face like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Barry forced himself to pull back, and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He pressing his face into her hair, breathing her in one more time. "Caitlin." He whispered again. "Whatever happens, I'm going to find you again. I love you."

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. It was all she could do not to cry out his name as he pulled away and sped out of the Pipeline. Ronnie pulled her into his arms, and she sobbed, closing her eyes against everything.

Barry was gone.

 **(A.N: Sorry to interrupt. ANYONE ELSE CRYING RIGHT NOW?! Are you at least** ** _teary_** **?! I'm tearing up right now, guys. My** ** _own writing_** **is making me cry. What this story does to me...)**

 **Flash!**

Barry whipped around the Pipeline, running faster then he even had in his life. He focused on Harrison's words in his ear, urging him on. He felt the way his lips tingled from Caitlin's last kiss. His chest felt tight and almost numb, but he kept running.

A portal appeared in front of him, and he leapt into it. There were images. Joe with his arm around young Barry, telling Iris that he would be staying with them for awhile. Then he saw Caitlin. But... she wasn't Caitlin. Her hair was white, and she was paler then normal, with shockingly blue eyes. The image startled him so much he nearly fell out of the portal.

Then it changed again. A golden statue in front of a building. Himself inside Iron Heights, talking to his dad. "Barry, what you are seeing is the Speed Force. The past. The present. The future. All at at once. You need to focus on where you want to go." Harrison instructed. "So think about it. That night. Think about your mother."

He shot out of the portal, and into a familiar room. His bedroom.

It was just like he remembered it. A telescope against the wall; planets hanging from the ceiling. His bed, unmade, was empty. So his younger self must already be downstairs.

He heard screaming, and flashed down the steps. It was all just like he remembered, with the red and yellow blurs of light, now so familiar. His mom, his mom! was on the floor, reaching out towards her son.

And then, out of nowhere, his future self, the one sent to fight the Reverse Flash, stopped the fighting. He turned to look at him, and held out a hand, wordlessly shaking his head. Barry, trembling all over, held back.

The Reverse Flash walked over to his mother, and Barry felt tears streaming down his cheeks as he picked up an knife. He closed the door, trying to block out the sound of her screaming.

Barry heard the sound of the Reverse Flash speeding away, and hesitantly opened the door. His heart felt like it was being ripped in two, but he felt strangely calm. He knew that he had made the right choice.

Henry was on the floor, unconscious, and Nora was moaning on the carpet. Her blouse was stained red. He knelt beside her, grasping her arms. "Please... my husband and my son-"

"They're ok." Barry whispered. "It's ok. They're both safe. I promise."

She nodded. "Who are you?"

"I'm-" He choked on his tears for a moment, and couldn't get the words out. "I'm the Flash."

"I don't understand."

He reached up and pulled off his cowl, trying not to break down. "You look just like my father." Nora said.

Barry smiled through is tears. "This won't make any sense." He croaked. "But it's me, mom."

"What?" She was fading, and it hurt like a knife had been stabbed into _his_ heart, instead of hers.

"It's Barry."

"Barry?" She reached up to touch his face. "Oh, my beautiful boy." She started to wheeze, and he lost it, leaning into her hands and letting himself sob.

"I was given a second chance. To come back here. To tell you that I'm ok." Nora nodded. "Dad and I are both ok. And we love you mom. I love you."

She stroked his face, touching his hair, wiping away his tears. "Goodbye. Goodbye, Barry." Her hands fell from his face, and she closed her eyes.

He stayed in that room for a long time.

 **Flash!**

Caitlin recovered enough to go to the Cortex with everyone, watching the clock tick down with the little amount of time that Barry had. At 52 seconds, Stein spoke up. "I believe it's time to say goodbye to Harrison Wells."

Joe and Cisco went down, and everyone left crowded around Cisco's computer to watch the exchange. Harrison Wells, dressed in his suit, was inspecting the time machine (the _time machine_ ), that Cisco had built. "It's beautiful. Rip Hunter would be impressed. He built the first one of these. Interesting man."

Everything went white with light for a moment, and a silver hat clattered unto the floor, seemingly out of nowhere. "What the heck is that?" Joe asked, staring at it.

For the first time in Caitlin life, Wells looked a little scared. "That's my cue to leave." He moved over to Cisco, and Joe raised his gun. But all Wells said was, "Thank you, Cisco."

"Never come back." Cisco responded, not meeting his eyes.

The Reverse Flash's face hardened, and he climbed into the time machine. The glass closed around him and the whole thing began to turn. "Thirty seconds." Stein reported.

Before Wells could go anywhere, an even more blinding flash of light lit up the room, and none other then Barry Allen flew out.

Caitlin covered her mouth with her hand, and Ronnie grabbed by the shoulders to keep her upright. "Barry..." She breathed.

He slammed into the time machine, shattering it and sending everyone flying backwards. "We have to close down the wormhole!" Stein yelled. "Quickly!"

Caitlin turned and raced down the hallway, Ronnie yelling her name as he followed. When she got down to the room, Wells and Barry were both on their feet. "You didn't save her." Wells growled. "Why?! You could have had everything you ever wanted!"

Barry turned at that moment, and their eyes met. She saw the pain in them, rooted deep, but she also saw so much love it nearly made her collapse. "I already do."

She wanted to run to him, but Ronnie held her back. The Reverse Flash pulled up his cowl. "Not for long."

They both ran at each other, blurs of red and yellow light zipping across the walls and ceiling. Ronnie grabbed her arm. "Come on!" They ran as fast as they could to the pipeline.

"Cut the internal generators!" Caitlin commanded her brother, and he fell to work.

"10 seconds- hurry." Stein told them unhelpfully.

Caitlin heart was in her throat as she typed in the passcode for the Particle Accelerator. A spark lit up, and Ronnie flew across the room. But she had to keep moving.

Caitlin flipped the last switch and ran over to him. "Ronnie! Are you ok?"

"Did you do it?" He groaned.

"Yes, I turned them all off." Caitlin helped him sit up.

They heard a gunshot, and Iris' screaming. Caitlin pulled Ronnie to his feet and they took off running again, back to the fight. Iris got their first, and was at Eddie's side. He had a bleeding hole in his chest.

The Reverse Flash was flickering in the middle of the room. "What's happening?" Barry asked, trying to get up from the floor. Caitlin ran to his side.

"Eddie is his ancestor." Cisco said, his voice trembly. "If Eddie dies, he'll never be born. He's being erased from existence!"

Harrison pulled off his mask, his image getting less and less clear. His face shifted, turning into someone unfamiliar. Eobard Thawn.

"No!" Iris screamed. "No, Eddie, no, no, stay with me, ok?" She cradled the dying man's face in her hands, trembling all over.

"He was wrong..." Eddie breathed. "Turns out- I was a hero- after all."

Caitlin felt tears coming down her face, she felt Barry wrap his arms around her and hug her tightly. "I love you." He whispered in her ear. "I love you I love you I love you."

"You are, Eddie, you are." Iris sobbed. "You're my hero."

"That's- all I ever- wanted." Eddie croaked, and closed his eyes.

"No!" Iris cried, leaning over him. Cisco covered his face with his hands, and Barry only held her tighter.

Eobard started to disintegrate. "I've controlled your life for so long, Barry. How will you get along without me?" He let out a bloodcurdling scream, and vanished from existence.

There was quiet for a long time, only broken by Iris's heart wrenching sobs. Barry kissed her gently. "I love you." He whispered again, voice breaking. "Caitlin-"

She pressed herself into his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I love you, too." She whispered. "I'm here."

"I'm never leaving you. Never again."

Before she could respond, the ground started to shake, and a swirling blue hole appeared. The walls around them started to crumble. "Guys, that's not good!" Cisco yelled.

"Professor, I shut down the wormhole!" Caitlin cried. "What's happening?"

"I don't know. But it seems to be reopening." Stein said.

Everyone stumbled to their feet, and Caitlin tried to block out the sounds of Iris' screams that she wouldn't leave Eddie. Barry grabbed her hand, and followed the others out of the room at a run.

Outside, it was worse. A dark, spiraling mass was hovering outside of STAR Labs. "So that's what we didn't want to happen." Cisco shouted over the sound of the wind.

"What is it doing?!" Caitlin asked.

"Feeding." Stein stared up at it in horror. "The singularity won't stop. Not even when the world is destroyed."

Caitlin could hear the screams of people around the city as buildings began to crumble. She held on to Barry's hand tighter.

"The fuse material that's in orbit around the singularity is already it motion." Stein continued.

"What does that mean?" Caitlin yelled.

"We have to disrupt the motion!" Barry realized. "Basically it's just like the tornado- only upside down. And bigger. And scarier."

"Barry." Stein approached him. "That even has an energy level of 600.7 terra electron volts. It cannot be stopped!"

Barry turned to him. "I have to try." He pulled Caitlin into his side and kissed her, then pulled up his cowl. Then he flashed off.

Caitlin moved foreword a few steps, but Cisco grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "He has to, Caitlin!" He shouted. The wind was getting louder, and she could barely hear him out. "He's got to try and stop this."

They watched as Barry became a yellow circle in the mass of black clouds. Caitlin stared at the sky, hoping with all her heart that he was going to come back alive.

 **Author's Note: WE ARE DONE. Done, guys, done. I can't- I can't even believe it. Wow.**

 **Alright! Thank you for your continual love, support and constantly appreciated reviews. I'm hoping that this story was a joy for all of you to read.**

 **I want to especially thank the following:**

 **Matthew G Given**

 **caitlinmontgomery**

 **auslly love 1000**

 **snowcaitlin**

 **Ezrian123**

 **guests**

 **EVERYONE WHO LOVED, FOLLOWED, OR REVIEWED! I love you guys so much and thank you!**

 **Just to let you know, this has finished out at 125 pages (on pages), and 61,948 words. My longest story yet!**


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